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THE

LETTERS OF SIDONIUS

TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION
AND NOTES, BY

O. M. DALTON, MA.

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

1915

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY

HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A.

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

64e>22 1

SEP 1 5 m^

PREFACE

It is somewhat remarkable that the complete letters
of Sidonius have never been translated into English.
Though their style is often tiresome, though many of
them seem at first sight to add little of moment to the
sum of existing knowledge, yet the nine books, regarded
as a whole, are still in many ways the richest source of
information on Roman provincial life during the last
years of the Empire in the West. And as a whole
they should be read. Even the best selection is liable
to omit what is really necessary for a full compre-
hension of the author and his view of life ; omissions
which singly appear unimportant have a cumulative
power in creating false ideas ; they distort the per-
spective, confuse the values, and invert the relative
significance of parts. Where a writer's work does not
crush by bulk, or enervate by dullness, it is generally
best to let the whole produce its due organic effect,
unmarred by the subtractions of an editor. • In the
present case, the bulk is not excessive, for there are
not much more than a hundred letters ; and the dull
places are easily escaped by every bonus arbiter et
artifex lector ^, experienced in the process of winnowing
grain from chaff.

1 II. ii. 19.

a 2

IV

Preface

If the question of rendering the whole or part were
the only trouble with which he had to contend, the
translator of Sidonius might rid himself of all anxiety.
But he must always be haunted by doubts as to his
success in conveying in every case the sense of a con-
fessedly difficult writer, often ambiguous in phrase, and
sometimes recalling to the tired mind that creature of
the sea which conceals itself at will in a cloud of its
own ink. I cannot hope to have avoided error where
scholars of eminence have admitted their uncertainties ;i
and there are yet many passages the true sense of which
lies beyond my divination.

It would have been possible indefinitely to expand
the notes at the end of volume ii ; but they have been
purposely abridged, that Sidonius may speak for him-
self with as little interruption as possible. A general
knowledge in the reader of Roman history and mytho-
logy has been assumed ; for instance, notes are not
inserted to explain who Sulla or Julius Caesar
were; Aganippe and Hippocrene are not defined;
nor is the legend of Triptolemus related at length.
Philological discussions have been omitted, and ex-
planations confined to points essential to the compre-
hension of the text ; it seemed more convenient that
the Introduction should give in a consecutive form
many facts which notes could only have given in
isolation ; and I have endeavoured in this part of the
book to supply an abstract of the conditions obtaining in

' Ceterum non tarn emendatoris indigere Sidonium quam
interpretis in dies magis me perspexisse libere profiteer (Mohr,
Praefatio^ p. vii).

Preface v

southern Gaul as they are revealed to us in the Letters.
Biographical matter is also for the most part removed
from the notes ; an alphabetic list of correspondents,
friends and contemporaries, whose names occur in the
Letters, will be found on p. clx, with such cardinal facts
in their history as have been ascertained. Names of
places have been rendered, as a rule, by their modern
equivalents, which seem to make the geography more
immediately intelligible, especially to those acquainted
with central and southern France. Where an ancient
form is consecrated by general use, or seems demanded
by the nature of the context, it has been purposely
retained.

Like every other writer on Sidonius, I must express
deep obligations to the earlier scholars who have edited
the Letters, or described the period with which they
are concerned, from Savaron and Sirmond, to Chaix,
Fertig, and Mommsen, to Germain, Baret, Hodgkin,
and Dill. To the learned Jesuit Sirmond, who edited
Sidonius with an erudition worthy of the century of
Ducange, and to the Abb6 Chaix, whose long and
careful study is indispensable to every student, the
debt is greatest of all. The edition of Gr^goire and
Collombet has sometimes received adverse criticism ;
but though compelled to differ from many of their
renderings, I have often found their volumes useful,
and consulted them with advantage. For the literary
and local history of Gaul in the fifth century, the
monumental Histoire litteraire de la France of the
Benedictines remains indispensable; the same may be
said of Tiliemont's sixteenth volume. Nor should

VI

Preface

any writer occupied with the Gaul of Sidonius' day
forget the work of Fauriel, of Amedee Thierry and
Ampere. Sir W. Dill's sketch of Roman life in the
fifth century has constantly rendered invaluable service.
Though frequently consulting the text of Lutjohann
in the great edition in Vol. VII of the Monumenta
Germaniae Hisiorica^ I have mainly used that of Mohr
in the Teubner Series ; thanks are due to Messrs.
B. G. Teubner & Co. for courteously permitting the
use of their edition.

Something has been said in the Introduction on the
style of Sidonius (p. cxxi), enough perhaps to indicate
the problems which it presents to the interpreter.
I have endeavoured to keep in mind the sane view ot
Dryden, that the translator's first duty is to grasp the
sense as thoroughly as possible, in order that it may flow
naturally into a new expression, and escape 'tedious
transfusion ' by copying word for word. A literal trans-
fusion of Sidonius at his worst would be tedious indeed ;
it would defeat its own end, since we read him for his
meaning, and no longer for his Latinity. I have felt
it necessary to render his antitheses, and reproduce
his puns wherever translation is reasonably possible ;
but where there is no obvious English equivalent for
a gratuitous and pointless contrast, I have often
spared my readers, not going out of the way to accentuate
what may be fairly called his curiosa infelmtas^ his love
of puerile dexterity. Fortunately, however, he does
not always go on stilts, and many letters, especially
those written later in life, move simply, from starting-
point to goal. His ' style ' is not always with him ;

Preface vii

it is indeed somewhat of a theatrical costume, and
separable from his real self. When a busy life com-
pelled him to be direct, he wrote without pretence,
and can be translated in the same unpretentious manner.
To all admirers of his character, the use of this stylus
rustlcans is a real relief; were he always tricked out in
his finery, he would inspire in the world of letters
the same amused contempt which the elderly fop
Germanicus aroused among his less affected neighbours
at Chantelle (IV. xiii).

I am indebted to my colleague Mr. G. F. Hill for
very kindly reading through the proofs.

British Museum^
1914.

CONTENTS

VOLUME I
Introduction

PAGE

xi

Bibliography

cIvi

List of Correspondents

clx

Translation, Books I-III .

I

VOLUME II

Translation, Books IV-IX

3

Notes

. 215

Index • . . .

. 254

INTRODUCTION

(Caius) Sollius Apollinaris (Modestus) Si-
DONius ^ was born at Lyons, about the year 431, and
died at Clermont perhaps in a. d. 489, at the age
of nearly sixty years. ^ The exceptional interest of
the period covered by his life is apparent from these
dates ; he saw the last sickness and the death of
the Roman Empire in the West, and is our prin-
cipal authority for some of the events which attended
its extinction. He was a younger contemporary of
Attila and Gaiseric. The campaigns of Aetius took
place in his boyhood ; he was a youth of about twenty
when the Huns were defeated on the Catalaunian
plains, and for the first time in history the Roman
and the Teuton fought side by side against a common

^ Sidonius is the principal name, and by it he is properly
designated. He himself {Carm, ix) gives the order of his
names as Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius. Caius is substituted
for Apollinaris by Claudianus Mamertus in the dedication of
the De Statu Animae, Modestus is derived from the MS.
of the Abbey of Cluny, in which Savaron discovered the
epitaph (see p. lii below) ; but our author himself does not
mention it. The description ' Sidonius Apollinaris ' dates
from the thirteenth century, and became general through its
adoption by Politian (Fertig, p. 5 ; Germain, pp. 178-80).

2 Mommsen {Praefatio, p. xlvii) gives the year of his birth
as between 430 and 433. Hodgkin {Italy and her Invaders^
ii. 304) is in favour of about 430.

xii Introduction

enemy. He was about twenty-four when the house of
Theodosius became extinct with Valentinian III, and
the Vandals plundered the city of the Caesars (a.d. 4SS)«
He was still alive when Romulus Augustulus laid down
his diadem at the bidding of Odovakar. More than
once his path crossed that of the last emperors who
ruled in Italy ; as the son-in-law of Avitus, and a high
officer of state under Anthemius, he saw Rome in the
final phases of her imperial existence. In his own
country he met or corresponded with every person
of importance. He had dined with Majorian, he had
played backgammon with the Visigoth Theodoric II ;
he lived to become first the prisoner and then the sub-
ject of that monarch's fierce successor, Euric. He
exchanged letters with Lupus, Remigius, Faustus, and
all the leaders of the Church in Gaul. There was
hardly a single distinguished name with which in some
way or another his own was not associated. Like
Cassiodorus, he enjoyed an outlook over two worlds,
the old Roman civilization in its decay, and mediaeval
society in its beginnings. To paraphrase a sentence of
Sir Thomas Browne, he stands like Janus in the field
of history.

Sidonius came of a senatorial family long settled in
Gallia Lugdunensis, a family to which, as he himself
says, the holding of high office seemed almost a heredi-
tary right : both his father and his grandfather had been
prefects in Gaul.^ His mother belonged to the gens

^ His father, whose name may have been Apollinaris, was
a secretary of state under Honorius, and prefect in Gaul
under Valentinian III in 448-9 (V. ix. 2). His grandfather,
the first member of his family to be converted to Christianity

Introduction xiH

of the Aviti, which was connected with other noble
provincial families, the Ferreoli, the Ommatii, and the
Agroecii ; when therefore he married Papianilla, daughter
of the Avitus who became emperor, he may only have
added a new tie to an old alliance.^ He had a brother,
who may not have lived to mature age, as no letter
is addressed to him ; ^ he had aunts or sisters and
a mother-in-law, mentioned as taking care of one of
his children (V. xvi. 5). A nephew Secundus (III. xii),
and a cousin Apollinaris complete the list of his own
relations, with the possible addition of Simplicius,
who is so often mentioned with Apollinaris that he
may have been his brother. He had two brothers-in-
law, Ecdicius and Agricola,^ of the latter of whom we
hear little, of the former, much. For Ecdicius was the
hero of his native country of Auvergne. He dis-
tinguished himself by great gallantry in the last struggle
for independence (III. iii), and seems to have had in
him much of the spirit of mediaeval chivalry.'^ Nor

(III. xii), was prefect in the time of the usurper Constantine
(the < Tyrant'), A. D. 408.

1 Among the connexions of Sidonius v^^ere Tonantius
Ferreolus, Philagrius, Magnus and his sons Probus and
Felix, Priscus, and Valerianus. For his pedigree, see
Mommsen, Praefatio^ p. xlvii.

^ Carm. xvi. 70 ff., where Faustus is thanked for the care
bestowed on his education.

^ Agricola seems to have led a country life and taken no
prominent part in affairs (II. xii).

* In this display of personal courage he was but following
the example of his father Avitus, who once challenged a Hun
trooper to single combat, and slew him in the sight of two
armies {Carm, vii. 246). Several allusions in the Letters
present Ecdicius in the light of a lover of outdoor sports and

xiv Introduction

was he deficient in other gifts ; he must have possessed
some talent for diplomacy, since he was instrumental in
rallying the Burgundians to the cause of Auvergne at
a very critical moment. Sidonius and Papianilla ^ had
one son, Apollinaris, and three daughters, Alcima,
Roscia, and Severiana.^ The boy, whose early promise
is mentioned in one of the most pleasing passages
of the Letters (IVj^xiirT), was destined to disappoint
his parents, first in his failure to maintain the intellectual
promise of his youth, and later by more serious defi-
ciencies, recorded by other hands than those of his own
father.^ Of the girls, only Roscia and Severiana are

physical prowess. He had other moral qualities besides
courage ; he rivalled Bishop Patiens in the generosity with
which he relieved the distress of Auvergne after the Visigothic
invasion (see below, p. xl), and is thought by some to have
ultimately become a bishop.

1 Though a single letter is addressed to Papianilla, who is
there praised as a good wife, she too remains a rather shadowy
figure. The only actions attributed to her which at all suggest
a personality are related by Gregory of Tours (see below,
p. cxlviii).

2 Unless, as Mommsen has suggested, the three names all
belong to a single person.

^ Apollinaris associated himself with Victorius whom Euric
appointed governor of Auvergne, and accompanied him on
his flight to Italy, where he almost shared his fate. From
Milan he managed to effect his escape, and returned to
Auvergne, where he was reconciled to his father, reformed
his ways, and married Placidina (Ruricius, Ep, II. xxv ; and
cf. Chaix, ii. 289 ff.). Gregory of Tours in one place relates
that in a. d. 507 he led the nobles of Auvergne at the battle
of Vougle or Vouille near Poitiers, in which the forces of
Alaric II were defeated by Clovis. In another place he
mentions him as one of the successors of Sidonius in the see

Introduction xv

mentioned in the Letters, and both in an incidental
manner; for Sidonius v/as not communicative on his
family affairs. The name of Alcima does not occur at
all : we learn more of her from other sources than
Sidonius himself tells us of her sisters. She became
noted for her devotion to the saints, and for her
munificence to the Church,^ and is said to have joined
her sister-in-law Placidina in a successful effort to
obtain the see of Clermont for her brother some years
after her father's death (see below, p. li, note 2).

Sidonius was educated in his native city, where the
schools, if less famous than those of Bordeaux, were
yet of high repute. He passed through the regular
course of academic training, the essential parts of which
consisted of grammar and rhetoric ; and in both Letters
and Poems preserves kindly memories of his teachers
and fellow students.^ As might be expected from the
fortunate circumstances of his birth, and his father's
rank as prefect, his youth was probably a happy one,
passed alternately between the city and the country
estate, where he enjoyed games and all the pleasures of

of Clermont, stating that he died four months after his elec-
tion. The two passages are reconcilable, because Gregory
never saySj as some critics have assumed, that ApoUinaris
died at Vouill6, only that he was present at the battle
(Gregory of Tours, De gloria martyrum^ Ixv ; cf. Hist,
Franc, II. xxxvii. Cf. also Chaix, ii. 379 ; L. Schmidt,
Geschichte der deutschen Stammer p. 276).

^ Gregory of Tours, Hist, Franc, III, ii. 12; De gloria
7nartyrum^ c. 64.

2 Among his teachers were Hoenius {Cann, ix. 313) and
Eusebius (VI. i. 3) ; among the comrades of his youth,
Probus, Avitus (III. i), Faustinus (III. iv), and Aquilus
(V. ix).

xvi Introduction

the chase,^ His love of eloquence began early ; he
refers to the delight with which, as a youth of eighteen,
he listened to the speech of Nicetius when Astyrius
assumed the consulship at Aries in 449 (VIII. vi. 5).
After his marriage, which must have been an early
one, he probably divided his time between Lyons and Au-
vergne; in the latter region was situated his father-in-law's
estate of Avitacum, which was ultimately to come to him
through Papianilla, and of which he has left a descrip-
tion (IL ii; Carm, xviii). It was probably during the
first years of his married life that he frequented the
Visigothic Court at Toulouse, from which he wrote home
the very interesting letter descriptive of Theodoric II to
his brother-in-law Agricola (I. ii).^ Avitus, to whose
exertions the coalition of Roman and Visigoth against
Attila had been largely due, had long favoured
an understanding between the two peoples. He had
been a familiar figure at the Court of Theodoric I,
whose sons he had endeavoured to imbue with Roman
civilization ; ^ it was therefore natural that he should

^ Sidonius describes himself as always a great devotee of
all games (on which see pp. cxi, cxii). He also rode, hawked,
and hunted (IV. iv). Cf. Chaix, i. 69 ff.

* The consistently eulogistic nature of the letter is sufficient
indication that it was written with an ulterior purpose. We
may compare Carm* xxiii. 70 ff. :

Martins ille rector atque
Magno patre prior ^ decus Getarum^
Romanae colunien salusque gentis
Theudoricus . . .

* He is even said to have taught the younger Theodoric to
appreciate Virgil {Carm, vii. 497 ; Jornandes, De reb. Get,
xl, xli). Cf. Hodgkin, ii, p. 379.

Introducttoii xvii

encourage the visits of his son-in-law to the more
important of these pupils. He may not have clearly
foreseen the part which he was destined personally
to play in the near future ; but it must have appeared
a possible contingency that the Goths and their Gallo-
Roman neighbours might once more be called upon to
take decisive action together. With Tonantius Fer-
reolus and many others, he may well have shared the
belief that the Roman understanding with the most
civilized of the barbaric peoples might save an Empire
which Italy was too enfeebled to lead. He had seen
the Visigoths and the Burgundians in their homes, and
learned to appreciate the rude virtues and the manly
strength which redeemed the coarser elements in their
nature. He dreamed perhaps of a Teutonic aristocracy
more and more refined by Latin influences, which should
impart to the Romans the qualities of a less sophisticated
race and to their own countrymen a wider acceptance of
Italian culture.^ He knew that for more than a cen-
tury Gaul had been the most vigorous and enlightened
portion of the Empire in the West, and as Italy became
year by year more helpless, he may well have believed
that the leadership of the decaying state might pass into
the control of his own country. But throughout he prob-
ably gave Theodoric II credit for a greater disinterested-
ness than he possessed ; for in all likeHhood the Visigothic
king intended to exploit the Roman connexion in the

^ As noted above, Avitus' attitude towards the barbarians
was shared by his son Ecdicius. It was also shared by other
members of his house, for at the time of Kuric's aggression,
Sidonius appealed to a younger Avitus to dissuade the
Visigothic king from his provocative policy (III. i. 5).

546.22 I b

xviii Introduction

interest of himself and his own people. Be that as it
may, when, in 455, the line of Theodosius became
extinct with Valentinian III, the murderer of Aetius,
Avitus was sent as magister militum to secure the recogni-
tion of Petronius Maximus in Gaul. But while he was at
Toulouse, news came of that emperor's murder, where-
upon Theodoric urged him to assume the diadem himself.^
After a meeting either of representative magnates or of
the Council of the Seven Provinces ^ at Ugernum (Beau-
caire), Avitus, then some sixty years of age, was formally
invested with the purple.

The event was the first turning-point in the career of
Sidonius : it opened before him the brightest prospects
of advancement, and awakened in him that ardent desire
of political distinction which was for many years to exert
so strong an influence on his life. He accompanied his
father-in-law to Rome, and there, following the prece-
dent of a Claudian or an Ausonius, delivered the
Panegyric of Avitus which earned him the honour
of a statue in the Forum of Trajan.^ But the hopes

^ In the Panegyric of Avitus, Sidonius describes the part
taken by the Goths in the elevation of that prince {Carm, vii.
441 ff., 508 ff., 570^0.

2 The Seven Provinces formed the Dioecesis Viennensis,
the second of the two ' dioceses * into which Gaul was
divided. They were ; Viennensis, Narbonensis Prima and
Secunda, Novempopulana, Aquitanica Prima and Secunda,
Alpes Maritimae (Marquardt, Rbrnische StaatsverwalUmg,
i. 261, 509). In 418 Honorius had issued a Constitution re-
newing the Council of Representatives of the Provinces, which
under normal circumstances met at Aries (cf. L. Schmidt,
Ceschichte, as above, pp. 288-9, and p. xxx below.

s Cf. IX. xvi ; Carm. viii. 8 :

Ulpia quod rutilat porticus aere meo.

Intro due ti 071 xix

which the young aspirant might legitimately base upon
his relationship to the head of the state were soon
dashed to the ground : Avitus did not fulfil the expec-
tations of his friends. His personal courage availed
him little in Rome. On the other hand, his character
revealed unsuspected weakness,^ and his position as
a provincial nobleman among the critical aristocracy
of the capital became each day more difficult. His
every action was watched with unfriendly eyes ; his
bodyguard of Visigoths aroused resentment ; and when,
to provide their payment, he was reduced to melting
statues and stripping the bronze tiles from temple roofs,
it needed but a pretext to ensure his speedy ruin. The
immediate cause of his downfall lay in the hostility of
Ricimer, now only at the beginning of his career as
king-maker. The formidable Sueve had achieved a
notable triumph over the Vandal fleet near Corsica
(456), and, flushed with victory, determined to remove
an emperor over whose election he had exerted no

The statue, which was placed between the Greek and Latin
Libraries, is now lost. As a work of art illustrative of the
decadence, it would have possessed for us an interest almos
equal to that of the Panegyric which has survived.

* For the career and character of Avitus see Gibbon,
Decline and Fall ^ ch. xxxvi ; Hodgkin, as above, pp. 374 ff. ;
L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stdmme^ i, 19 10,
pp. 252 ff. Gibbon's accusations of immorality are not
now regarded as justified (Hodgkin, p. 393 ; and Bury,
Gibbon, vol. iv, p. 14, note). Avitus seems to have been
a man of a simple nature, whose inaptitude for empire lay
rather in lack of subtlety than want of virtue. His greatest
claim to distinction was probably his action (already noticed)
in bringing about the rapprochement between the Galio-
Romans and the Visigoths.

b2

XX Introduction

control. The unfortunate Avitus, who found his posi-
tion in Rome untenable, fled to Gaul with the object
of obtaining military support, but returning with an
insufficient force, was defeated by Ricimer at Placentia.^
The conqueror, establishing a precedent destined to be
followed more than once in the immediate future,
compelled him to exchange the diadem for the mitre,
but the transformation did not long preserve the victim's
life. Apprehensive that his fate was only postponed,
Avitus'seems to have sought safety in renewed flight ;
it is certain that he met his death within a few months
of his deposition. 2

The fall of Avitus was a crushing blow to Sidonius.
He returned home, where he found many spirits troubled
like his own, and a party among the nobility still indis-
posed to acquiesce in the rule of Ricimer, or to see Gaul
robbed of the leadership which she had fairly assumed.
Feeling ran so high that a regular conspiracy was
formed with both Visigothic and Burgundian support,
in the hope of placing upon the throne a second emperor
approved by Gaul. The candidate is conjectured to have
been the gallant Marcellinus ; ^ but it seems unlikely that

^ L. Schmidt, as above, p. 254 ; C. M. H. i. 421.

2 John of Antioch (Fr. 202) says that he was either starved
or strangled. Gregory of Tours {Hist. Franc, II. xi) relates
that he^attempted to escape from Italy^and take sanctuary at
the shrine of S. Julianus at Hrioude (Brivns) in his native
country of Auvergne, but that he" died on the road, his
remains being carried for burial to the church which he had
attempted to reach alive.

s The episode of the conspiracy is obscure, and the
commentators are strangely silent. It should be observed
that Sidonius alludes to it as coniuratio Marcelliana (1. xi. 6),

Introduction xxi

such a scheme can have had the consent of the person
principally involved, for Marcellinus, actually commander
in Dalmatia, had been the comrade of Majorian, now
raised by Ricimer to the principate (April 457), and
during the new reign played a part of conspicuous
loyalty.^ Majorian had almost all the gifts which make
a ruler — courage, prudence, tact, love of justice, and
magnanimity. A puppet-emperor might have been
defied, but not a man like this. As soon as events
permitted, he entered Gaul, and in 458 and 459
reduced the rebels to submission.^ The focus of
the rising was Lyons, which had actually received
a Burgundian garrison.^ Whether these barbaric
auxiliaries remained in the city, or whether they
were persuaded to withdraw by Petrus, Majorian's
Secretary of State, there could only be one end to
the adventure ; the city, after suffering great hardships,
was compelled to unconditional surrender.^ The em-
peror felt it necessary to exercise severity ; in addition

the adjective (if this is the word he really wrote), pointing
rather to a Marcellus than a Marcellinus. Marcelliniana
is a possible emendation, or Marcelliniy as suggested by
Mommsen (cf. P. Allard, Revue des questions historiques^
Ixxxiii, 1908, pp. 438 ff.).

1 Barker, in C. M. H. i. 425.

2 Mommsen, Praefatio, p. xlviii, places this first visit of
Majorian to Gaul in the autumn of 458. Cf. also Schmidt,
C. M. H. i. 202.

^ Carm. v. 572 ff.; Schmidt, Geschichte der deiitschen
Stdmme, Part i, pp. 256, 373.

* The miseries of Lyons may have been in part due to
internal feuds breaking out when the hopelessness of the
rebellion became apparent.

xxii Introduction

to the ruin of its walls and buildings, Lyons was
punished by severe taxation. In this rising and its
consequent disasters Sidonius took a prominent part ; he
seems to imply that he and his friend Catullinus actually
bore arms,^ and he was certainly one of those who had
to smart under the lash of a ' tribute ' described in one
of his poems as triple-headed, like the monster Geryon.^
After the capture of Lyons, the movement collapsed :
perhaps by the secret activity among the rebels of men
like Paeonius, the upstart, who during the interregnum
had usurped positions to which he had no claim, and
who now sowed dissension in the hope of securing
favour at the victor's hands.^ Theodoric, who had
attacked Aries, abandoned open hostility, and renewed
his previous relations to the empire ; the Burgundians,
returning to their old position as loyal foederati^ were
confirmed in possession of all Lugdunensis Prima
except the capital itself.

From the embarrassment into which his active parti-
cipation in rebellion had thrown him, Sidonius extricated
himself, perhaps with the assistance of the literary Petrus,
by the exercise of his poetic talents. His short appeal
against the triple impost was successful ; he made a

^ Ca^m. iv. ii, 12, and v. 572 ff, :

Mihi diverso nuper sub Marte cadenti
lussisti placidoj Victory tit essem animo.

2 Carm. xiii.

3 The failure of Gaul to estabUsh a state based in the last
resort upon Visigothic support, was perhaps a loss to civiliza-
tion. Hodgkin has observed that had the effort resulted in
a Visigothic power sufficiently strong to resist the Franks,
the empire of Charlemagne might have been anticipated by
a nobler nation.

Introduction xxiii

further bid for the emperor's favour by writing a pane-
gyric. It is difficult to exonerate our author from the
charge of a certain moral pliancy in this matter. Not
twenty months had elapsed since he had sung the praises
of Avitus before the Senate at Rome, and now he stood
forth in the town of his birth to laud the nominee
of Avitus' murderer.^ This second panegyric is in
some ways superior to the first ; if the heart of the
writer was less glad, his pen was no less ready ; and
the poem contains passages of no small brilliance and
great descriptive power.^ Majorian loved letters, and had
a generous nature ; he accepted the tribute, and admitted
the panegyrist to the circle of his friends. Sidonius
received the title of count, and became a persona grata
at the court ; the extent of his influence became apparent
duiing the second visit of Majorian to Gaul in the year
461.^ At that time there appeared an anonymous
satire which created a great stir at Aries ; the writer

^ It must be remembered in this connexion that the
eulogistic description of Theodoric II (I. ii) was written in
full consciousness of the fllct that the Visigothic king had
succeeded to the throne by murdering his brother Thorismond
(Thorismud).

2 It is Carm, vii : an abstract of it is given by Hodgkin,
ii. 410. Tne kind of flattery which was expected from an
imperial panegyrist in the fifth century is illustrated by the
words : FuUnus vestri quia causa triumphi^ Ipsa ruina
placet,

3 This is the date accepted by Mommsen {^Praefatio,
p. xlviii), and by Clinton. The Circus games which were
just over (I. xi. 10) are taken by the latter authority to be the
Quinquennalia of Majorian. But Hodgkin considers that
the emperor was probably in Spain and Italy during the
season 460-1.

xxiv Introduction

severely lashed some of the personages most prominent
under the new regime, among others the parvenu
Paeonius, who was naturally consumed with the de-
sire to unmask the hidden assailant. He thought he
had succeeded in tracing the lampoon to Sidonius,
whom he would have gladly humiliated. Instead of
this, he was himself subjected to new and conspicuous
discomfiture in the presence of the emperor, who at
a banquet endorsed the conduct of his new friend by
publicly resenting an unproved insinuation (X. xi).^
Once more the star of Sidonius seemed in the ascen-
dant ; for the second time it was eclipsed. Majorian's
career, which promised so much for the empire, was
suddenly arrested, and the last real emperor of Rome
fell a victim to the jealousy of Ricimer (461). The
king-maker availed himself of the disappointment caused
by the failure of a new naval expedition against the
Vandals to remove too popular a rival.^ During the

^ This is one of the best of the descriptive letters. It is
probable that the intimacy of Sidonius with Majorian had
aroused the jealousy of others who, like Paeonius, were less
successful in winning the emperor's good graces. These men
were glad to use any opportunity to disgrace their brilliant
rival, and used the episode of the lampoon to suit their own
ends (cf. Chaix, i. 132). Hodgkin thinks that Sidonius may
really have written the satire. It is true that he does not
explicitly deny the charge brought against him ; but the
balance of probability seems against his authorship.

2 Majorian was dethroned and put to death at Tortona in
Piedmont in August 461. During the disturbances follow-
ing his death Theodoric obtained possession of Narbonne
(Schmidt, Geschichte^ as above, p. 258). Before his murder
in 466, this king had very probably seized Novempopulana
and a great part of Narbonensis Prima (ibid. p. 263). The

bttroduction xxv

next four years he kept upon the throne Severus,
a feeble personage on whose nullity he could rely.
Severus died in 465, whereupon Ricimer for two years
controlled the destinies of Italy alone. In 467, how-
ever, a rapprochement with the court of Constantinople,
alienated by the murder of Majorian, became the interest
of Italy, and the Senate requested Leo I to nominate
an emperor in the West.^ He complied, naming An-
themius, a great Byzantine noble, son-in-law of Marcian,
and a soldier of high repute. Soon after the new ruler
had landed in Italy, he endeavoured to conciliate Ricimer
by giving him his daughter Alypia in marriage.^ For
the first time since Majorian's death Italy indulged
new hopes. Under a soldier supported by Byzantine
influence she might make head against the barbarian with-
out, while the union of Ricimer with the imperial princess
promised internal peace.

When his prospects were for the second time over-
clouded by the untimely fate of Majorian, Sidonlus
passed six years of retirement at Lyons and upon his

death of Majorian seems also to have been the signal for
encroachment on the Burgundian side. Gundioc reoccupied
Lyons, and by 468 his frontiers had been widely extended
towards the south, more or less with Roman consent (ibid.

P- 375).

^ For the events attending this change of policy, see
Hodgkin, ii. 440; C. M. H. i. 426.

2 The name of the bride was unknown until the discovery of
the (fragmentary) History of John of Antioch (of. C. Miiller,
Fragt. Hist, Gr, IV, pp. 535 if., i^r^^. 209; Bury's edition
of Gibbon's Decline and Fall^ vol. iv, appendix, p. 552).
For the pedigree of Anthemius, see Hodgkin, p. 461. For
Sidonius' description of Rome at the time of the wedding,
see I. V. 10.

XXVI Introduction

favourite estate of Avitacum. The quietness of his life
was relieved by more than one round of visits to friends
at Bordeaux and Narbonne ; a number of the letters,
and these among the most entertaining, were probably-
written during the leisure which he now enjoyed.^ But
for the ambitions awakened by experience of two courts
and only latent during these years, this would perhaps
have been the happiest period of his career. Reading
or composing in his library, or instructing his young
son ; wandering in his grounds by the lake, and amusing
himself upon occasion with games and with the chase,
he found the hours pass not unpleasantly at home ;
abroad, the society of the cultured friends and relatives
who vied with one another in their desire to show him
hospitality, afforded him the most agreeable of distrac-
tions. But he had tasted publicity and imperial favour ;
he had fallen under the glamour of Rome ; and amid
all the ease and calm of his existence the thought of the
prizes which had just slipped from his grasp was a source
of secret discontent. He was still well under forty ; he
could not yet resign himself to the undistinguished life
of a provincial noble.^ While Ricimer remained sole
arbiter of Rome's destinies, Ricimer who had caused the
death of both his patrons, there seemed no place for him
on the greater stage of the world. On all sides the road

^ These are dated 461-7 in the translation. Chaix would
reduce the number by assigning a few to the period after 475.
In a few cases 1 have followed his opinion in preference to
that of Baret, whose dating I have generally accepted.

2 He probably felt in his own person all the discontent
with which, in the moment of his success, he endeavoured to
inspire his friend Polemius (I. vi).

Introduction xxvii

was barred against him ; he must accept the fate of the
disappointed man.

Into these shadows the election of Anthemius and
the improved position of affairs in Italy brought a sudden
light ; hopes almost abandoned rose once more. Sidonius
began to consider whether he might not attain at the
new court the position which fortune had twice placed
almost within his reach and twice withdrawn. The
course now taken by events was exceptionally favourable
to the attempt. Anthemius fully grasped the importance
of strengthening his new dominions, and his attention
was naturally directed to Gaul as the bulwark of empire
in the West. The provincials on their side were
anxious to explain their needs, and to enlist the
sympathies of the new prince ; they probably had
grievances for redress, and schemes for a strong policy
against barbaric encroachment. A deputation was
appointed to visit Rome, and after offering congratu-
lations to Anthemius, to lay before him the hopes and the
necessities of the country. What more natural than that
the eloquent son-in-law of Avitus, one used to courts and
no stranger in the capital, should be selected to act as
leader ? Doubtless to his great satisfaction, Sidonius
found himself once more preparing to cross the Alps,
furnished with an Imperial letter which placed all public
means of transport at his disposal. After a favourable
journey down the Ticino and the Po to Ravenna,
he learned that the emperor was at Rome, and followed
him thither by the Flaminian Way, arriving on the eve
of the nuptials of Ricimer and Alypia.

The first step was taken ; Sidonius had now to see
that on this, his third endeavour to rise, he reached an

xxviii Introduction

altitude commensurate with his persistent effort and with
the dignity of his family. It is probable that Anthemius
met him more than half-way, and that the comedy
of advancement in which Sidonius now engaged was in
reality directed by the imperial advisers. It was very
important for the emperor to conciliate Gaul. He was
now perfecting a defensive scheme against the aggres-
sion of Euric/ which involved the sanction of all
Burgundian appropriations, and possibly a further
cession,^ in order to secure the more willing co-
operation of Gundioc. It was a matter of moment
to win for his policy a man of such influence in Lyons
and Auvergne as Sidonius, and it may therefore be
fairly surmised that the way of ascent was made smooth
for the aspirant's feet. The leader of the deputation
took up his quarters with a cultured Roman noble,
Paulus, by whose assistance he prepared to combine the
prosecution of his mission with a legitimate advancement
of his private fortunes. The two selected the most
efficacious patron in the Senate, Basilius, who had the

^ Successor of Theodoric m 466. The imperial policy
incUided an alliance with the Armoricans under Riothamus
(cf. III. ix), whose part it would be to hold Berry against the
Visigoths ; and also an understanding with the Franks.

2 The enlarged Burgundian territory was bounded, now or
shortly afterwards, on the south by the Visigoths of Aquitanica
Prima and by Narbonensis Secunda, on the north by the weak
state of Aegidius and Syagrius in Belgica, soon destined to
be absorbed by the Franks (Schmidt, Geschichte^ pp. 375-7).
It included the Viennensis, Maxima Sequanorum, Alpes
Graiae et Poeninae, Lugdunensis Prima, including Nevers,
and part of Narbonensis Secunda between the Rhone and the
Durance.

Introduction xxix

reputation of obtaining promotions for all his clients and
not for his relatives alone. It was arranged that the
emperor should be favourably impressed by a panegyric
delivered on his assumption of the consulship for the
second term on New Year's Day, 468 a.d.^ The
story, which must be read in Sidonius' own words
(I. ix), recalls some episode from court-life in the
eighteenth century ; as Baret has said, the scene might
almost be an entresol at Versailles. The panegyric was
graciously received — had not Basilius guaranteed as
much \ And the poet was magnificently rewarded
with the office of Prefect of Rome, carrying with it
the presidency of the Senate. It can hardly be supposed
that the appointment was nothing more than a distinc-
tion offered to Letters, like the consulship of Ausonius,
or those nominations with which ministers of the
eighteenth century recompensed their literary partisans.
As already hinted, it is more probable that in part
at least the affair was prearranged, and that the
panegyric provided an ostensible motive for an act
really dictated by considerations of imperial policy.

Sidonius now rode, as he would have said, at a safe
anchor of glory, ^ he had attained the highest grade but
two in the imperial system of honours. There remained
only the titles of Patrician and Consul ; could he win
these, he would have achieved the feat which he
repeatedly declared to be every man's proper ambition ;
he would have risen to a higher rank than any of
his ancestors. In the moment of his elation, he

1 Antliemius had been consul for the first time thirteen
years earlier, at Constantinople.

2 Cf. I. i : sufficient is gloriae anchor a sedeL

XXX Introduction

doubtless indulged golden dreams ; but the unselfish-
ness of his nature is shown by his evident desire that
his friends in their turn should set their feet upon the
official ladder, and by his promises to do all that he can
to further their advancement.^ Yet he soon found that
office has its troubles ; almost from the first, the path
of greatness was rough to his feet. Among his duties
as prefect was the superintendence of the Corn Supply,
the Praefectus Annonae being his subordinate officer.^
On one occasion supplies ran dangerously short, and he
grew somewhat alarmed, fearing outbreaks in the amphi-
theatre on the part of the spoiled Roman populace ;
fortunately the arrival of ships at Ostia preserved him
from the unpopularity which he dreaded (I. x. 2).
A more serious event was the impeachment of Arvandus,
Prefect of Gaul, and a personal acquaintance of his own,
before a committee of the Senate on charges of peculation
and high treason.^

1 The letters to Polemius and Gaudentius illustrate this
(IV. xiv; I. iii, iv). In the case of both, the persuasion
appears to have been effective. Gaudentius became a vicarius ;
Polemius was the last Roman prefect in Gaul.

2 The duties of the Prefect of Rome are defined in the
Notitia Dignitatumi c. iv ; cf. also Cassiodorus, Var, vi. 4 ;
Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung^ ii. 131 ; C. M. H.
i. 50.

^ The impeachment was decided upon by the Council ot
the Seven Provinces,, established by Honorius (Carette, Les
assemblies provinciales de la Gaide romaine^ 1895, p. 333 ;
cf. also above, p. xviii). For the whole affair cf. Gibbon,
ch. xxxvi ff. ; Chaix, i. 299 ff. Arvandus seems to have
completed a first tenure of office with credit ; his disgrace
began with the second. He was perhaps a man with certain
good qualities, but a spendthrift, and incurably vain. During

Introduction xxxi

Sidonlus was now placed in a most embarrassing
position. On the one hand, he could not but sympa-
thize with this effort of his native province to end by
a signal example the insolence and corruption which
were leading Roman provincial government to disaster ;
moreover, the principal accuser, Tonantius Ferreolus,
was his connexion and intimate friend. On the other
hand, to leave Arvandus to his fate without lifting
a finger, appeared a dishonourable and cowardly course.
He decided to do what he could for the impeached
man, who proved an intractable client, committing every
possible blunder in the defence, and rendering the
severest sentence unavoidable. The action of Sidonius
has been commended by historians, among whom Gibbon
is numbered.^ He necessarily incurred much odium
(I. vii, i); for never had representative of law and
order a more compromising client. The praise which
thus falls to his lot is doubtless deserved, for it may
well have been that Sidonius was unaware of Arvandus'
treasonable correspondence with Euric, a matter which
the prosecution may have kept as the trump-card to be
played at Rome, and perhaps deliberately concealed
from all friends of the accused, however nearly con-
nected with themselves. Even when the treasonable
letter was produced, Sidonius may have hoped against
hope that it was not a genuine document, but had been
supplied to the accusers by more unscrupulous enemies

his second tenure he was embarrassed by debt, and this
was the origin of his downfall. As we shall see, the
advice which he gave to Euric was actually carried out by
that king.

^ Decline and Fall, ch. xxxvi.

xxxii Introduction

of the fallen prefect.^ But though we may approve
this loyalty to a fallen friend, we cannot but feel some
astonishment that a man of Sidonius' high character
should have permitted himself an intimacy with an
unscrupulous and violent personage like Arvandus : he
was wont to choose his intimates among men of a very
different stamp, and to be fastidious in selection. The
conceit and obstinacy of the ex-prefect frustrated all
efforts to establish a plausible defence,^ and Sidonius
absented himself from Rome before sentence was pro-
nounced, probably to avoid the pain of witnessing a con-
demnation which he had been unable to avert. But he
and those who acted with him did not relax their
efforts on behalf of the condemned man ; in all likeli-
hood th'e commutation of the death-sentence to banish-
ment with confiscation of property may be ascribed to
their active intervention.

Events of such a nature must have rendered the term
of his office an anxious time for the Prefect of Rome.
There was another and yet graver cause of anxiety,

^ Cf. Chaix, i. 303. Yet the leanings of Arvandus towards
the Goths can hardly have been altogether unknown to any of
his acquaintances.

2 It has been suggested by Martroye {GensMcy pp. 234-5)
that Arvandus may not have been so stupid as he appeared,
and that the correspondence with Euric may have been
undertaken with the approval of Ricimer. The king- maker's
privity to his treason would explain Arvandus' arrogant
confidence on his arrival in Rome, as well as his sudden
dejection, when he found himself left in the lurch by the
powerful personage on whom he counted (cf. Prof. Bury's
note in his edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall^ iv. 44,
n. 108).

Introduction xxxiii

less immediately conspicuous, but big with coming
trouble. This was the increasing tension between
Anthemius and his new son-in-law.^ To any one
gifted with political foresight, an ultimate rupture
became day by day more certain ; and it may be that
the retirement of Sidonius ^ was hastened by his desire
to leave Rome before fresh disasters broke on the ill-
fated empire. This explanation of his final departure
is perhaps as likely as that which would attribute his
second return from Italy to something in the nature
of honourable dismissal. It is possible, however, that,
like Mr. Secretary Addison in 171 7, this earlier literary
statesman proved unequal to the routine of administration,
and that the title of Patrician which he now received,
was intended to cover any mortification at the premature
close of his career ; but the capacity for affairs manifested
in the stage of his life on which he was now to enter, is
rather against the supposition of actual failure. What-
ever the causes of his retirement, Sidonius now bade
farewell to secular ambitions ; restored to the peace of
Avitacum, he may well have reflected upon their vanity,
and tasted the last bitterness of disillusion. It is a

^ When the breach soon afterwards occurred Ricimer
alluded Anthemius as Graeculus, while the emperor
deplored the necessity which had made him give his daughter
in marriage to a * skin-clad barbarian' {pellito Getae). In 470
a rupture was averted by the intercession of St. Epiphanius,
Bishop of Pavia; but in 472 Ricimer proclaimed Olybrius,
and marched on Rome. Anthemius was slain, but after little
more than a month the victor himself died (Pauly-Wissowa,
Real'Encyclopddie^ s. v. Anthemius),

2 It is generally assumed that he retired in 469. Fertig
(i. 19) thinks he may have remained till 471.

546.22 I g

xxxiv Introduction

probable conjecture that such reflections gave a more
serious turn to a mind never irreligious, and that the
evident change of his outlook on the world conditioned
the event which was now to transform his life.^ On the
death of the Bishop of Clermont, Sidonius was invited
by general consent to occupy the vacant throne, and he
accepted the invitation.^ Assuming him to have been
born between 431 and 433, he was now about forty
years of age.^ The Letters contain no allusion to the
circumstances immediately preceding this, the crucial
event of our author's life. Nowhere does Sidonius
allude to the invitation itself, of the persons who made

* A similar conversion occurred in the case of Sidonius*
friend Maximus, who also was called to the Church by
the voice of his fellow citizens (IV. xxiv. i); cf. Fertig,
ii. 6.

2 He may have passed the lower ecclesiastical grades per
saltum like Ambrose, who rose from baptism to the episcopate
in a week (C. H. Turner, in CM. H. i. 151).

^ The length of the interval between the return of Sidonius
from Rome and his entry into the Church depends upon the
view adopted as to the date of his retirement from the pre-
fecture. Mommsen reduces it to less than a year {^Praefatio^
p. xlviii). Schmidt seems to be of the same opinion
{Geschichte, p. 264). Others, while accepting the date of
departure from Rome as 469, consider that three years elapsed,
and that the episcopate of Sidonius began in 472. They argue
from the passage in VI. i, where Sidonius says that at this
time Lupus had been a bishop for forty-five years; now
Lupus was elected to the see of Troyes in 427 (cf. Chaix,
i. 439 ; Dill, p. 179). Tillemont (^Memoires, p. 750), followed
by Germain (p. 19), makes Sidonius' ecclesiastical career
begin a few months earlier, at the close of 471, on the ground
that when the letter was written he must already have been
bishop some little time.

Introduction xxxv

it, or to the arguments which they employed, though
more than once he describes his new profession as
having in a sense been forced upon him,^ as indeed it
had been forced upon many other men of birth and
weahh ahke in Italy, and in his own country, among
whom St. Ambrose himself is numbered. It is not
difficult to supply the information which he omits to
furnish. In those troubled times, the Church had
special need of leaders familiar with the traditions of
high office, trained to public life, and possessed of ample
fortune (see below, p. Ixxiii). Such men were better able
than any others to stand between their flocks and the
imperious barbarian princes who, with every year, closed
in a narrowing circle round the dwindling territory of
Rome. The careers of a Patiens and a Perpetuus proved
the wisdom of those who elected them : the career of
Sidonius was destined to justify it in an equal degree.
He probably accepted the office not only from the
changed view of life which led him to despise worldly
ambition, but also because he believed that it opened
to him a prospect of useful action for the benefit of his
fellow countrymen. He well knew the anxieties and
labours which it would involve ; long before his own
ordination, he had been acquainted with some of the
best among the Gallic bishops, and the arduous manner
of their life. There can be no question of vanity or
ambition in his acceptance. As far as worldly honour
went, the ex-Prefect and Patrician had nothing to gain

^ V. viii. 3 Utpote cut indigitissimo tantae professionis
pondus impadum est. Cf. VII. ix ; VI. vii. This language,
as Germain remarks, recalls that of St. Ambrose, when raised
in a similar manner to the episcopal throne of Milan.

c Z

XXX vi Introduction

by occupying a bishop's throne ; and Clermont v/as not
even a metropolitan see.^ Several letters written by
Sidonius to other prelates soon after his election show
that he was sincerely oppressed by the sense of his own
unworthiness, and aware how little his previous life had
prepared him for his new career ; at the same time his
health seems to have suffered, and a dangerous fever
brought him almost to death's door (V. iii. 3). But
he was cheered by the receipt of encouraging and kindly
replies from several bishops of the Province ; that of
Lupus of Troyes ^5 which is preserved, must have
caused him peculiar pleasure, for Lupus was the most
venerable figure in Gaul, and regarded with respect in
every diocese.

Events were now moving to a crisis which was to
put the character of Sidonius to the severest test, alike
as patriot and as ecclesiastic. The hold of the empire
upon Gaul continually relaxed. It had rewarded the
friendship of the Burgundians by permitting great annexa-
tions of territory ; ^ its enemies were never satisfied.
Riothamus the ' King ' of the Bretons, who had been
entrusted with the defence of Berry with some twelve
thousand men, had already been defeated by the
Goths, whose ambition was an ever-present menace.*
Count Paul, for a while the Roman commander, had

* The see of the Metropolitan was at Bourges,
2 Baret, pp. 32-3.

8 Cf. note, p. xxviii above. About this time Gundioc was
succeeded by his brother Chilperic I, who had no children.
Gundioc left four sons, called on Chilperic^s death the
* tetrarchs ' : Gundobad ruling at Lyons, Chilperic II at
Vienne, Godgisel at Besan9on, and Gundomar at Geneva.

* Riothamus, to whom one of the letters (III. ix) is

In troduction xxxvii

checked with Prankish support their advance north of
the Loire, but they now added to their dominion the
northern part of Aquitanica Prima, with the cities of
Bourges and Tours. While Euric's lieutenant Victorius
made steady conquests in Aquitanica Prima he him-
self overran the country beyond the Rhone, which
he was unable to retain on account of Burgundian
jealousy.^

The fulfilment of his ambitions involved the absorp-
tion of Auvergne, the most loyal district which remained
to the empire, inhabited by a war-like race claiming
Trojan descent, a people which had fought with Han-
nibal, and, in the person of Vercingetorix, sent against
Julius Caesar a captain worthy of his military genius.
Their principality had been the most formidable in
Gaul, and they had long enjoyed the reputation

addressed, foolishly provoked the attack of Euric and viras
crushed at Bourg-de-Deols on the Indre, not far from
Chateauroux, whence he fled with the remnant of his force
to the Burgundians. This may have been in 470, or perhaps
in 469, for Euric's aggression was probably hastened by the
failure of the Roman expedition against the Vandals in 468.
Cf. Gregory, Hist. Franc. II. xviii ; Jornandes, Geticay xlv ;
Dill, pp. 302, 316; Fauriel, v. 314; Schmidt, in C. M. H.,
p. 283.

^ The Burgundians may even have driven him by force
from this district (Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 377). It may be
that Euric was to some degree influenced by a desire to
avenge Arvandus and Seronatus, who had given him such
practical advice. Except that he had not come to terms with
the Burgundians, his present policy was that recommended
by Arvandus in the famous letter which caused his condemna-
tion (cf. p. xxxi above, and Fauriel, Hist, de la Gaule
itieridionale^ i. 214).

xxxviii Introduction

of freemen and warriors.^ Such men, whose leaders
still desired Roman rule, even with the traitorous
Arvandus and Seronatus ^ as the official representatives
of the empire, were not likely to accept Visigothic
domination without a struggle. Their country was
apparently exposed for several years to a series of raids
and invasions culminating in sieges of the city of
Clermont,^ whose people offered a most stubborn resis-
tance, with Sidonius at their head. The bishop was
no longer animated by the sentiments towards the
Gothic monarchy which had inspired his eulogy of
Theodoric II. Euric was a very different man from
his murdered brother, more violent, less refined, less
amenable to reason. He made no pretence of recognizing
Roman supremacy ; moreover his Arianism was of an
aggressive type, and with Sidonius, whose Catholicism
was orthodox and sincere, this was a factor which now
weighed more than any other. The Arvernians, though
at first they had conceived new hope from the accession
of Nepos,* now began to fear that they looked in vain

1 The claim of Trojan descent is more than once mentioned
by Sidonius (cf. II. ii. 19 ; VII. vii. 2. Cf. also Pliny, Nat,
Hist, IV. xxxi).

2 Seronatus was perhaps governor of Aquitanica I (Schmidt,
Gesch,y Part I, p. 261), where he openly acted in the interests
of the Goths (cf. VI. i. i ; V. xiii. i, 4 ; VII. vii. 2). He also
was brought to justice, and lacking Arvandus' useful friend-
ships, underwent sentence of death (cf. Chaix, i. 377).

2 Arverni is the general form for Clermont, though
Jornandes uses Arverna. The earlier name was Augusto-
nemetum. When autumn set in the Goths raised the siege,
and drew off into winter quarters.

* Cf. VIII. vii, addressed to Audax, Prefect of Rome.

Introduction xxxix

towards the Rome for which they prepared to make the
utmost sacrifices. As the year 474 advanced it was
seen that without imperial support their position was
hopeless. Sidonius had attempted to postpone the evil
day by diplomatic means ; Avitus, whose family name
was so well known to the Goths, had been sent to
intercede with Euric ; ^ Ecdicius seems to have been
dispatched to solicit aid from the Burgundians. But
neither was able to prevent the horrors of continued
siege. The defenders fought with tenacity ; and though
their walls were damaged, though fires destroyed whole
quarters and they were reduced to extremities by hunger,
they succeeded in holding the city. Their spirits were
at one time raised by a heroic exploit of Ecdicius, ' the
Hector of this Troy,' ^ who with a little band of
eighteen troopers broke through the enemy's lines,
inflicting heavy loss upon seasoned warriors, perhaps

Nepos, nephew of Verina, consort of the Emperor Leo, was
proclaimed in Constantinople in 473, and landed in Italy in
the following year, Glycerins being consecrated bishop of
Salona. He only reigned a year and two months; in 475 he
was dethroned by Orestes, who invested his own son Romulus
Augustus with the purple. Nepos, at the beginning of his
reign, appears to have endeavoured to rejuvenate the Civil
Service, and secure a more efficient administration. But the
effort came too late.

1 III. i. 5. The efforts of Avitus may have been made
in concert with Licinianus (Schmidt, Geschichte^ as above,
p. 265). The memory of the Emperor Avitus, the friend of
the first Theodoric and instructor of the second, must still
have been fresh among the Visigoths. This younger Avitus
may himself have had a personal influence among them ; the
degree of his kinship to the emperor is unknown.

2 Fertig, i. 12.

xl Introduction

overcome by a momentary panic, ^ The privations
of the city had been so severe, that a party was
apparently formed in favour of accepting Gothic rule,
a party perhaps recruited by Gothic agents, who no
doubt reminded the suffering citizens that the exac-
tions of Visigothic counts were not likely to exceed
those of Seronatus. This was a move of which Sidonius
perceived the peril. The tension of war was followed
each winter by inevitable reaction. The Goths had
burned the crops ; and though the generosity of Patiens
and Ecdicius, now and later, did much to relieve dis-
tress,^ men stood among ruined homes and saw their
families still suffering the pangs of hunger. The
advocates of surrender had here a promising material to
work upon, and Sidonius strained every nerve to counter-
act their efforts. He induced his friend Constantius of
Lyons, a venerable priest whose name was held in
honour in Auvergne, to visit Clermont.^ The appeal
was not in vain ; though the winter weather was severe,
the old man braved every inconvenience of the way,
and by his cheerful presence and calm advice composed

1 III. iii. The episode is also related by Gregory of Tours
{^Hist. Franc, II. xxiv), who allows Ecdicius only ten men.
Ecdicius seems to have been successful, at some time during
the operations, in bringing up Burgundian support (Chaix,
ii. 176); he also engaged troops at his own expense
(III. iii. 7).

2 VI. xii. Cf. Gregory of Tours, loc. cit.

3 This may have been done by letter. It is possible that
the personal visit of Sidonius to Lyons and Vienne took place
in some interlude between the sieges, though we may doubt
whether he would have left the city at so critical a moment.
Cf. below, p. xlii.

Introduction xli

the differences and animated the courage of the people.^
The bishop also instituted the solemn processional
prayers or Rogations already used in time of peril by
Mamertus, bishop of Vienne.^ These also had a tran-
quilHzing effect. But there was still a prospect that
the siege might be again renewed, and all eyes were
turned to Italy. Julius Nepos was alive to the danger
that Euric might cross the Rhone ; but weak as his
resources were, he could only hope to secure peace by
negotiation. The quaestor Licinianus, who had been
sent into Gaul to investigate the condition of affairs upon
the spot, had done little more than confer upon Ecdicius
the title of Patrician, an honour which even at this
anxious time highly gratified Sidonius, and filled
Papianilla with delight ; ^ he had now returned, and it
was soon only too clear that hopes based on his inter-

^ III. ii. This is the same Constantius to whom the earlier
books of the Letters are dedicated.

2 V. xiv; VII. i.

2 The dignity had been promised by Anthemius. Several
writers have remarked that though the Roman dominion was
on the point of disappearing, and though the titles which
Rome conferred were about to become emptier names than
ever, Sidonius and Papianilla regarded the augmentation of
the family honours as a matter of serious importance. In
spite of the threatening aspect of affairs, they could not even
now persuade themselves that Auvergne was really to be
abandoned by the empire. Perhaps it was this ineradicable
confidence in Roman stability which enabled Sidonius to write
several cheerful letters during this time of suspense, e.g. III.
viii and VII. i. We may note as an example of a similar
confidence manifested by others, that a friend whom he asks
to attend the Rogations is taking the waters at a bathing
resort (V. xiv. i).

xlii Introduction

vention were not likely to be fulfilled. Rumours of
negotiations were in the air. We find Sidonius writing
for information to those presumably in a position to
receive early intelligence.^ To this last period of
suspense, if not earlier, may belong the visit to the
Burgundian kingdom, when he was able to frustrate
the machinations of the informers threatening Apol-
linaris.2 He began to fear that something was going
on behind his back, and that the real danger to
Auvergne came no longer from determined enemies but
from pusillanimous friends.

His suspicions were only too well founded. On
receipt of the quaestor's report, a Council was held to
determine the policy of the empire towards the Visi-
gothic king. Four Gaulish bishops were empowered
to enter into negotiations — Leontius of Aries, Graecus
of Marseilles, Faustus of Riez, and Basilius of Aix.
It is not easy to say whether they failed because they
refused to surrender Auvergne ; nor can we precisely
define the relation of their mission to that undertaken
on behalf of the emperor by the venerated bishop
of Pavia. Schmidt considers that the embassy of
Epiphanius took place when the negotiations of the
four bishops had broken down, and that the treaty of
475 was ratified by him.^ The empire did not feel
strong enough to support Auvergne, and it was decided

1 IV. V. ^ 2 j>j\\i cf. p. xl, note 3.

3 Schmidt, Geschichte, as above, p. 265. But if the four
bishoi)s made a firm stand for Auvergne, why was Sidonius so
indignant with Graecus ? The account of Epiphanius' pro-
ceedings given by Ennodius is uninforming {Vita Epiph,
§ 81).

Introduction xliii

to cede the whole territory to Euric, apparently without
condition, unless, indeed, the Visigoth undertook that
Catholics should receive fairer treatment, and that the
disabilities from which they had suffered should cease.^
If so, the contingent religious advantages of the treaty
might ultimately have soothed Sidonius the Churchman,
as the shame of surrender at first incensed Sidonius the
patriot. But when the news of the decision reached
him, he gave way to an outburst of righteous indignation,
and wrote to Graecus, his intimate friend, a letter in
which the bitterness of reproach is no less remarkable
than the exalted tone of patriotism.^ Sidonius loved
Auvergne; among all the Gallo-Roman nobles none
was more devoted to the imperial connexion than he ;
none attached more weight to the maintenance of Latin
letters and Roman civihzation. He was cut to the
heart. All the valour of Auvergne had been thrown
away : the treaty seemed an impossible, an incompre-

1 Sees had been left vacant ; churches were allowed to fall
in ruins ; cattle grazed about the altars (VII. vi). Gregory of
Tours {Hist, Franc, ii. 25) says that bishops and priests were
actually put to death, but it is doubtful whether things were
pushed to this extremity; cf. Chaix, ii. 1S2.

2 VII. vii. Hodgkin compares the protest of betrayed
Auvergne with that of the city of Nisibis, surrendered to
Persia by Jovian against the will of the inhabitants. The
reproach directed by Sidonius against Graecus, that he con-
sidered nothing but his own interest, seems hardly justified.
It is probable that as a result of the treaty, to which the
Burgundians appear to have been parties, the whole territory
between the Loire, the Rhone, the Pyrenees, and the two
seas passed to Euric, who now possessed Aquitanica I and
II, Novempopulana, Narbonensis I, and part o Lugdunensis
III (Schmidt, p. 265).

xliv Introduction

hensible betrayal ; the thought of it filled him with
mingled shame and sorrow. The year 475, in which
he ceased to be a Roman citizen, was the darkest year
of his life.^

In the organization of his new territory, which he
seems to have annexed without further opposition, Euric
showed the qualities of a statesman. He appointed
Victorius, a Catholic and Gallo-Roman, as Count of
Clermont, a man whose piety Sidonius praises, but
whose character is painted in a different light by Gregory
of Tours.^ He probably intended to act as fairly by
his new Catholic subjects as violent prejudice would
allow. But the conduct of Sidonius in encouraging so
protracted a resistance at Clermont had incurred his
sharp resentment. The bishop was imprisoned in the
fortress of Li via, situated between Narbonne and Car-
cassonne.^ There may have been some pretence of
entrusting him with a special duty,^ but probably the
principal object of the victor was to keep him away
from his people until the new government was fairly

1 The treaty still left Rome the country between the
Mediterranean and the Durance, and from the Rhone to
the Alps ; but a part of this at least was taken by Euric in
476, when he renewed the war, and drove the Burgundians
beyond the Durance (Schmidt, Geschichte^ p. 377).

2 Victorius may have degenerated (cf. Chaix, ii. 504).
Gregory {Hist. Franc. II. xx) states that he was obliged to
fly to Italy ; the young Apollinaris followed him (cf. note 3,
p. xiv, above).

3 In the Peutinger chart it is called Liviana, and placed
twelve miles from Carcassonne. Cf. the Index Locorum in
Mommsen's Fraefatio.

^ In VIII. iii and IX. iii Sidonius speaks of qfficia which
occupied a great part of his day during his captivity.

Introduction xlv

established. Sidonlus seems to have remained for some
time within the walls of Li via, but to have undergone
no great physical hardships, since his chief complaint
is that he suffered from the chattering of two repulsive
Gothic hags outside his window (VIII. iii. 2). He
had a powerful friend at court in the person of Leo,
Euric's Secretary of State, who only waited a pro-
pitious time to intercede for his unfortunate countryman,
and meanwhile recommended him to occupy his mind
by literary work.^ It must have been due to the solici-
tations of Leo (VIII. iii) that the prisoner was at last
removed, apparently on parole, to Bordeaux, where
Euric was now holding his court; and here, among
a crowd including members of numerous barbaric tribes,
he was forced to wait the king*s good pleasure.^ Sidonius
was ill at ease about his property, perhaps his loved
estate of Avitacum, all, or part, of which had been
seized during the recent disturbances.^ He found it
difficult to obtain justice ; and in a letter to his friend
Lampridius (VIII. ix), whose case was very different

^ The task which he suggested was an edition of Philo-
stratus' work in honour of Apollonius of Tyana (VIII. iii. t ;
cf. Fertig, ii. 22). Sidonius had a far higher opinion of
Apollonius than that entertained by the Catholic Church in
later times (cf. note, 140. i, p. 245). It is questioned whether
he undertook a regular translation from the Greek, or merely
a transcription, as Sirmond thought.

2 Chaix thinks that Sidonius returned to Clermont on his
release from Livia ; and that the visit to Bordeaux was under-
taken later, with the express object of presenting a petition
with regard to his confiscated property (ii. 227).

^ VIII. ix. The Visigoths, in accordance with precedent,
probably appropriated a fixed proportion of the concjuered

xlvi Introduction

from his own, bewails the hardness of his lot ; but the
verses which accompany the letter are practically
a panegyric of the Visigothic ruler, whose power they
exalt to the skies. ^ As Lampridius was now a favoured
personage in the king's entourage, the writer doubtless
hoped that they would be brought to the royal notice,
as indeed they probably were; the subsequent permission
to return home, soon afterwards accorded to Sidonius,
may well have been hastened by this timely resort to
the arts of the court poet.^ Euric was perhaps of
opinion that his prisoner had now suffered enough, and
would cause him no further trouble.

The bishop returned to Clermont in a despondent
mood. The Patrician and ex-Prefect was brought low ;

territory (cf. p. Ivi below). But Sidonius* active share in the
war may have led to the confiscation of his land.

^ Sidonius may have been really impressed by the visible
signs of Euric's power, and forced into a kind of enthusiasm,
despite his private feelings. But the verses bear the signs of
exaggeration, and historical evidence hardly confirms their
claim that Euric was arbiter of the destinies of half the
world.

2 Another letter containing verses (IV. viii) addressed to
Evodius was probably composed at Bordeaux. Evodius, who
at a later time may have risen high in the Gothic service
(Chaix, ii. 290), was presenting a silver cup to Ragnahild,
Euric's consort, for which he desired a poetical inscription.
Sidonius, who realized as fully as his friend the great influence
wielded over their lords by the Teutonic queens, complied
with a few couplets well calculated to attain their object.
But in a tone of irony which betrays his real sentiment with
regard to Teutons, he remarks at the end of the letter that
the verses themselves hardly matter, since in the place where
the cup is going there will be eyes only for the silver of which
it is made.

Introduction xlvii

the idol of his patriotism was shattered. He saw him-
self abandoned by the government for which he had
willingly risked his life ; he was the subject of a bar-
barian whose manners he despised and whose heresy he
detested. There remained to him only his faith and his
pastoral duty ; and in time these were sufficient for him,
leading him to those paths of sanctity which were to
result in his canonization. But at first the new life
was hard ; Auvergne enslaved was no longer Auvergne
to one whose youth was full of such memories as his.
He threw himself with a high sense of duty into his
episcopal work ; several of his letters refer to events and
meetings which occurred in the course of his diocesan
visitations ; ^ those which were written to aid clerks,
deacons, readers, and others in need of his assistance
prove that he did not spare himself when an opportunity
came to help his neighbours or dependants. But in
spite of all these activities, there must have been long
and melancholy hours, especially in winter ; and his
friends feared their effect on his mind. They therefore
encouraged him to write ; and to this encouragement we
probably owe the nine books of the Letters. The first
book was issued in response to a request from the aged
priest Constantius who had rendered him such noble
aid after the siege of Clermont. It probably appeared
in 478.^ It was followed by Books II-VII, dedicated
to the same venerable friend. Books VIII and IX

1 Cf. the visits to Vectius and Germanicus (IV, ix, xiii ; cf.
Chaix, ii. 239, 241). He paid other visits beyond his diocese,
e.g. those to Elaphius and Maximus (IV. xv, xxiv ; cf. Chaix,
ii. 234, 236).

2 See below, p. cliii.

xlviii In traduction

were supplemental, the first added to gratify Petronius,^
though still dedicated to Constantius ; the second by
desire of another friend, Firminus.^

There can be no two opinions as to the wisdom of
his friends. It is clear from more than one passage
that Sidonius enjoyed rummaging among his papers for
any letters suited for publication, and that to transcribe,
correct and polish the pages written at various periods
of his life provided just the distraction which he re-
quired. To the gradual process of publication may in
part be ascribed the lack of chronological order in the
Letters, which makes them appear inconsequent to the
modern reader, though it is not the sole reason (cf.
below, p. cliv). But Sidonius was not only asked for
collections of his letters. His talent as a poet was still
in request. If a new church was erected, a metrical
inscription for the walls must come from his hand ; if
a notable person died, he must provide an elegy.^ High
ecclesiastic though he was, he was still expected by
privileged persons to furnish occasional verses ; and
though he sometimes declined a request which he felt
inappropriate, at others he could not find it in him to
refuse.^ He was also urged to write the history of
periods falling within his own remembrance, a task
which he was unwilling to perform.^ But he occupied

1 VIII. i. I ; xvi. I. 2 IX. i, xvi.

3 He says himself that after his entrance into the Church,
his prose style suffered, but he was ' more of a bad poet than
ever' (IV. ill. 9).

^ Cf. the convivial verses written at a late period for
Tonantius, son of Tonantius Ferreolus (IX. xiii).

^ The request came from Prosper, Bishop of Orleans
(VIII. xv).

Introduction xHx

himself with Commentaries on the Scriptures, and com-
posed, among other religious works, certain Contestatlun-
culae^ which appear to have been prefaces to the Mass.
The loss of his religious writings makes it impossible
to estimate his position among the doctors ; Gennadius
placed him without hesitation among their number.^
His activities were not confined to composition ; he
also revised manuscripts. Thus we find him sending to
Ruricius a Heptateuch collated by his own hand.^

Amid these manifold occupations, pastoral, literary,
and scholastic, the later life of Sidonius wore away.
In the words of his epitaph (see p. Hi), he lived tran-
quil amid the swelling seas of the world (mundi inter
tumtdas quietus undas). He continued to write to his
friends and to receive letters from them ; it is thought
some examples may date from 484, or even later.^

^ De scriptorihus ecclesiasticis ^ xcii. The theological
writings of Sidonius are not the only works of his which
are lost to us. He mentions epigrams and satires from his
pen — evidently composed in earlier life (cf. Chaix, ii. 310).
In the verses included in the last of all his letters, he alludes
to certain juvenile productions : unde pars maior utina??t
taceri \ possit et abdi I

^ V. XV ; cf. Germain, p. 117.

^ It is argued that he must have been writing after 480,
because in a letter to Oresius (IX. xii) he says that he has
given up secular poetry for three Olympiads, and the period
of abandonment to which he alludes must be the year of his
election as bishop. Mommsen, however, considers him to have
died in 479 {Fraefatio^ p. xlix), in which Prof. Schmidt follows
him {Geschichte der deutschen St'dmme, p. 378). But his argu-
ment is chiefly based on a conjectural emendation of the vague
date at the end of the epitaph (^XII KaL Sept, Zenone i?n-
peratore)^ and his conclusion appears to accord no better with
facts than that of Tillemont (see next page).

546.22 I d

1 Introduction

This was an important year, for it marked the death
of Euric, and the succession of a weaker ruler in the
person of Alaric II. The disappearance of the great
Arian may have relaxed in some measure the tension
between the Catholic Gallo-Romans and their un-
orthodox rulers ; but it prepared the way for the final
subjection of Gaul under a single barbaric nation. The
Franks soon afterwards commenced the advance which
was only to end on the shores of the Mediterranean ; in
486 Clovis ended the shadowy rule of Syagrius between
the Loire and Somme, and prepared the way for a
descent upon the Visigothic and Burgundian kingdoms ; ^
Sidonius may even have lived to hear of this event. ^
The last years of his life are said to have been em-
bittered by the persecution of two priests of Clermont,
Honorius and Hermanchius, possibly representatives of
the Arian heresy."^ The story runs that they proposed

1 The Catholicism of the Franks was of great assistance to
them in their final struggle with the Arian Teutonic tribes.
There is no doubt that their orthodoxy led the Gallo-
Roman population to favour their projects and to desire
their supremacy, and that Alaric II regarded the Catholic
bishops as formidable, if secret adversaries.

2 Earlier authorities, the Benedictines {Histoire litL de la
France, ii. 557) and Tillemont {Memoires, xvi. 274 and
755), were in favour of about 489 as the date of Sidonius'
death. Gregory of Tours says that in Sidonius' lifetime the
echo of Frankish arms resounded in Gaul, and that Arvernians
desired their arrival in Auvergne : this seems to point to a
period later than the battle of Soissons (cf. Germain, p. 181).
It might also be contended that the references which Sidonius
himself makes to advancing age seem difficult of explanation
if he did not survive the year 479, when he would only have
been about fifty (V. ix. 4 ; IX. xvi, line 45 of the poem. Cf.
also Hodgkin, ii, p. 317).

^ Gregory of Tours, Hist, Franc, If. xxiii.

Introduction li

on a certain day to drive Sidonius from his church, but
a horrible fate overcame one conspirator, and the other for
the moment desisted from aggression. Thus Sidonius,
when his time came, was suffered to die in peace. He
is said to have fallen sick of a fever, and to have been
carried into the church of St. Mary, where he took an
affecting farewell of his flock, and indicated his desire
that Aprunculus should succeed to his office.^ Little
more is heard of his family after his death. His son
Apollinaris is said to have been one of his successors in
the see of Clermont.^ The year of Papianilla's death
is unrecorded ; of her daughters, we know only the
meagre facts with regard to Alcima related by Gregory
of Tours. By the end of the sixth century the house
which had played so great a part in Gaul was no longer
known to history.^ Sidonius was buried in the chapel

^ Gregory, as above. On Sidonius' decease, the infamous
Hermanchius usurped the bishopric, but was struck dead at
a banquet while he v^^as celebrating his success. Aprunculus,
formerly Bishop of Langres (cf. IX. x), only held the see for
a short time, being succeeded by Euphrasius, whose tenure
was also brief. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. III. ix,
xii, xviii.

2 Cf. p. xiv above, and Gregory, III. c. ii ; Chaix, ii. 379.
Placidina, the wife, and Alcima, the sister, of Apollinaris, are
said by Gregory to have visited the newly-elected bishop
and persuaded him that he did not possess the qualities
required for the efficient government of the see ; it would
be better, therefore, if he withdrew in favour of Apollinaris.
He agreed with them, and effaced himself.

^ Gregory tells us that the younger Apollinaris had a son,
Arcadius, whose daughter was named, like her grandmother,
Placidina, and is mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus {Carm.
I. 15, 45). It has been supposed that the family of Polignac
represents the line of Apollinaris, but this is disputed.

d 2

lii Introduction

of St. Saturninus at Clermont, and an epitaph of eighteen
hendecasyllables, composed not very long after his
decease, is quoted by Savaron from an early manuscript
formerly belonging to the Abbey of Cluny, but now at
Madrid.^ At some time after the tenth century, the
chapel having fallen into ruin, his remains were trans-
lated to the church of St. Genesius in the centre of the
town, where they lay in a reliquary on the right-hand
side of the principal altar. In 1794 ^^^ church was
destroyed ; it is not known whether the bones were
actually burned within the Place de Jaude, or whether
the reliquary was buried under the ruins of the de-
molished walls.

Such were the principal events in the career of
Sidonius, Gallo-Roman noble. Prefect and Patrician,
Visigothic subject, bishop and saint. His letters have
been compared to a literary Herculaneum, preserving
under the accumulated centuries the most varied
evidences of late Roman provincial life.^ We may
gather from them a multitude of facts bearing upon the

1 Codex MatrilensiSy known as C ; tenth to eleventh century
(see p. clii below ; and cf. E. Le Blant, Inscriptions chretien-
nes de la Gaule, I, no. 562). It is quoted by Sirmond, and
by later writers on Sidonius, e.g. Germain, p. 36 (cf. Baret,
Introduction, p. loi). The placing of this long metrical
epitaph over his remains would probably have accorded with
his own wishes. Did he not compose one of similar length
for his grandfather's tomb, with the comment that ' a learned
shade does not reject a poetic tribute' {Anima perita musicas
non refutat i?tferias. III. xi) ?

2 But, as observed below (p. cli), the Letters have never
ceased to be accessible, if only to a limited number of
readers.

Introduction liii

society, civil and ecclesiastical, of the time ; and though
the value of Sidonius as a chronicler is seriously affected
by an upbringing which set more store on literature than
on observation, the harvest is plentiful enough. He
experienced life under such various aspects, and knew
so many people, that he could not fail to present a
picture of provincial society of the highest interest and
importance. It was inevitable that he should see things
in the light of his own times, and remain under the
influence of his own environment. He does not say
as much about common things and ordinary events as
a modern historian would like to know ; he is reticent,
after the Roman manner, about his family. It was not
an age which cared to talk much of private life, or to
describe the usual scenes of city, farm and country-side;
nor was it the age of confessions, confidences and
apologies. Sidonius does not depict his inmost nature
like Montaigne, though in many little touches, applied
almost at random, he allows us to trace for ourselves
a portrait which he would not himself elaborate. We
must not therefore go to him either for the sociology of
the fifth century, or for the more intimate aspects of life ;
his mind was absorbed in other things. But when all
deductions are made, we shall still find in his pages
much invaluable material even on the subjects which he
disregards ; while those on which he cared to be explicit
receive from him more illumination than from anv con-
temporary writer. This is especially true of the lives
of the members of his own class, of the literary activi-
ties of fifth-century Gaul, and of ecclesiastical affairs.
His hundred and forty-nine letters are addressed to
a hundred and nine correspondents, including ex-prefects

liv Introduction

and patricians, a minister and an ' admiral ' of the Visi-
gothic king, a Breton commander, and no less than
twenty-eight bishops ; while among the recipients of
letters who did not hold ecclesiastical or secular office
are to be found the student, the poet, the young noble,
the country gentleman, the schoolmaster and the rhetor.
So varied a Hst proves that the writer was a man whose
wide acquaintance gives him a right to be heard as
a representative of his time and country.

Many allusions in the Letters will be more intelligible
if a few words are said in the present place on the
general conditions obtaining in Gaul when Sidonius
wrote, with especial reference to the classes from which
his correspondents were drawn. And firstly in relation
to his own class, the provincial nobles of senatorial
houses.

Perhaps the point which first strikes us is that life
on the great estates in the last half of the fifth century,
at the very end of Roman power in Gaul, is just as
Roman, and in some ways almost as secure, as in the
times of Hadrian or Trajan. The noble has his town
house and his country villa, the latter with its large
establishment of slaves, its elaborate baths, and all the
amenities of country existence as understood by Roman
civilization.^ In his well-stocked library he reads his

1 Sidonius' description of Avitacum, with its fine baths,
winter and summer dining-rooms, women's quarters and
weaving- chamber, imitates Pliny's accounts of his two chief
country-homes, the Latirentinum near Ostia, and the larger
Tusculanum at the foot of the Apennines in the upper Tiber
valley ^Ep. II. xvii ; VI. vi). It is rather curious that he
makes no mention of his garden, though such must surely

Introduction 1v

favourite authors, writes himself in verse and prose, or
maintains a continual correspondence with friends of
equal wealth and leisure. For diversion, he hunts
and fishes, or rides abroad to visit his neighbours ; if
interested in the development of his land, he goes round
the estate, watches the work in progress, and is present
at the harvest or the vintage.^ It is the life of the
cultured landed proprietor in a country at profound
peace, where soldiers seem to be neither seen nor
thought of, and the only sense of insecurity arises from
the presence of robbers on the lonelier roads ; but
for the apparent predominance of literary over sporting
interests, we might be reading of the English shires in
the days of the Georges, when the carriages of nobles
were stopped by highwaymen on Bagshot Heath. Yet
the Visigoths had been established half a century in
Aquitaine ; the Burgundians were on the Rhone ; the
Franks were pressing upon such territory in northern
Gaul as still retained a shadow of Roman authority.
The barbarians encompassed the diminished imperial
possessions upon three sides ; even before the time of
Anthemius and Euric, the empire must have been
aware that they were bent on a further advance.^ When
we think of the apprehension caused in modern times

have existed. Pliny, on the other hand, is very detailed in
his description of the gardens of his villas. He speaks of
walks bordered with box and rosemary, topiary-work, a
* wilderness ^ fountains and marble seats, summer-houses,
&c. (cf. also Sir A. Geikie, The Love of Nature among the
J^omanSy pp. i^2f(,),

1 Cf. II. xiv.

^ Even Theodoric II had shown his desire of territorial
aggrandizement in Gaul (Schmidt, in C. M. H. i. 283).

Ivi Introduction

by the threatened invasion of one nationality by another,
of the military preparations and the manifold precautions
on every hand, it all seems at first sight very strange.
The explanation is to be sought in the fact that, for the
majority of the population, the possibility of change
had no exceeding terrors. The small landowners
and townsmen had suffered to such an extent from
maladministration in the past, that they regarded the
future with indifference ; their own lot was no whit
better than that of their fellows who had already
passed under Teutonic sway. The Visigoths and the
Burgundians had the best reputation among the barbarian
peoples ; they kept order with a strong hand ; they
endeavoured to assimilate what was good in Roman law
and practice. Even the great landowner had only to fear
a partial confiscation of his estates ; but in most cases
the acreage was large enough to leave him still in
comfort, and in difficulties he would probably still have
an appeal to some administrator of Roman extraction,
like Leo or Victorius.^ Under these circumstances

^ It is generally held that when the Visigoths first settled
in Aquitaine, they appropriated two-thirds of the tilled land,
and one-half of the woodland, while such land as was not
thus partitioned was divided equally between Goth and pro-
vincial. When the Goths annexed large new territories, the
division probably became less ruinous to the Gallo-Roman,
because the barbaric numbers had not increased in proportion
to the fresh land seized (Schmidt, Geschichte^ pp. 281,287). -^^^
the Burgundian division, see Dahn, Die Kbnige der Germanen,
vi. 56 ; and for the partition of lands in Italy by the Ostrogoths,
cf. Dumoulin, ibid. p. 447. The Visigothic Code issued by
Euric in 475, of which only a part is preserved, was drawn
up by Roman jurists. It borrowed much from the provisions
of Roman law with regard to property ; with regard to moral

Introduction Ivii

the Gallo- Roman noble might view the change in his
allegiance without despair ; though his income and
his acreage would be diminished, he would still have
his villa, and cultivators to work on his land ; he would
still live his leisured life. Only in Auvergne, perhaps,
did loyalty to a tottering empire go the length of resolute
resistance ; even there, it is probable that a part of the
population was lukewarm, and that ardour had to be
assiduously fanned by enthusiastic loyalists like Sidonius
and Ecdicius. Thus the change from Roman to Visi-
gothic citizenship implied, for the noble, a comparative
loss, and for the lower classes a possibility of actual
gain : a Euric was less likely than a remote and help-
less emperor to tolerate a Seronatus in his service. The
Letters afford interesting confirmation of a certain tacit
confidence in barbaric rule. One year Sidonius paid
a round of visits to Roman friends living near Bordeaux
and Narbonne ; these friends are displayed to us reading
and writing in their comfortable libraries, maintaining
their luxurious kitchens, entertaining each other, and
living a large life at their ease. Yet at the time every
one of them had ceased to have any political concern
with the empire ; every one of them was a Visigothic
subject. The fact speaks for itself, and it makes the
point from which we started less strange than it at first
appeared. If life continued almost in the old fashion,

offences, it retained much of the old Teutonic severity. From
the time of Theodoric I, Gothic law had already begun to be
romanized, but the effect of long contact with Roman custom
was now much more obvious (cf. C. Zeumer, Leges Visigo-
thorum antiqtiiores, 1894; L.Schmidt, Geschichtey pp. 296 ff.;
F. Dahn, as above, vi. 226 ff.).

Iviii Introduction

even across the barbaric frontier, why should there be
panic on the Roman side, or terror as to what would
happen when the line was finally abolished ? Existence
would be much the same for most men after the great
change was made. The higher nobility would lose the
honours of imperial office, for there would be no more
prefectorian or patrician rank ; the rude barbarians would
be unwelcome neighbours ; but there were ways of
avoiding them, and after all, they were a small minority.
The Gallo- Roman nobles would continue to pay each
other visits and write each other elaborate letters ; they
would hold closely together, and neither Visigoth nor
Burgundian would care to intrude on their society. The J
prestige of Roman culture would remain; things would
go on as before. Their day would begin at its usual
early hour, opening in religious families with a service in
the chapel attached to the house,^ followed by visits
to particular friends. After nine o'clock, there would be
outdoor and indoor games ; if sport was pursued, the
hawks or hounds would be taken out.^ The company
would perhaps adjourn to the baths, after which would
come the prandium or midday meal, about 1 1 a.m.^

^ e. g. at the house of Magnus at Narbonne {Carm, xxiii).

2 Theodoric II, the Visigoth, who evidently conformed in
many ways to Roman usage, hunted before the midday meal ;
he too began the day very early with a religious service, and
then transacted state-business, which must have been over
before lo a.m. (I. ii). Sport with hawk and hound is
mentioned in connexion with the beautiful country-house of
Consentius near Narbonne (VIII. iv), and with the estates
of Namatius, Euric's admiral in Oleron (VIII. vi).

^ II. ix ; villas of Tonantius Ferreolus and Apollinaris.
For the disposition of the wealthy Roman's day, little changed

Introduction Hx

The hour of the siesta would be succeeded by a ride
or other light exercise, and by the afternoon bath,
preparatory to the coena^ or supper, which would be
enlivened by songs and music, or seasoned by cultured
conversation. The barbarian might rule the land, but
the laws of polite society would be administered as
before.

The Letters enable us to follow in some detail the
career of the Gallo-Roman noble from childhood to
mature age. During his tender years he and his sisters
were left to the care of the ladies of the family ; at this
period of their lives they remained in a seclusion almost
resembling that of the Eastern gynaeceum?- From this
seclusion the girl never really issued into the full Hght ;
she learned, as she grew up, to superintend and share
the work of the textrinum (II. ii. 9); if she was skilful, like
Araneola, she executed ambitious pieces of embroidery
with figure-subjects (Carm, xv. I47 fF.) ; in the library,

from early imperial times, cf. J. Marquardt, Privatleben der
Romer, p. 258.

^ It is hard to say from the writings of Sidonius whether or
not the Roman matron was still the commanding figure of
the earlier empire. She was much occupied with domestic
concerns : thus the wife of the wealthy Leontius of Bordeaux
spins Syrian wool, and works embroidery {Carm. xxii. 195).
But there are examples of ladies with intellectual interests.
Sidonius expects Eulalia, wife of his friend Probus, to read
his poems ; and the expectation implies in her more than
a slight tincture of letters {Carm, xxiv. 95). He tells a
friend about to marry, that wedlock need imply no break in
his literary work, since his future wife may encourage and aid
his studies. Probably the influence of the materfainilias was
none the less effective for being exerted in an inconspicuous
way.

Ix Introduction

her place was where the reUgious books were kept (II.
ix. 4), and sometimes, Hke Frontina, she attained at
home a reputation of piety superior to that of nuns (IV.
xxi. 4). The boy was permitted far more freedom ; he
played ball-games, and was initiated into the various forms
cf outdoor sport. As soon as he was old enough he
attended the schools of his provincial capital, and learned
to deliver ' declamations ' before the rhetor, perhaps a
man of distinction like Eusebius of Lyons, at whose
feet Sidonius sat (IV. i). In his holidays, or on special
occasions, the high official position held by his relatives
might secure for him a good position at any spectacle or
ceremony ; we see the young Sidonius, when his father
was prefect, pushing into the near neighbourhood of
the consul Astyrius on the day of his inauguration
(VIII. vi. 5). Released from the schools, he continued
his sports, adding games of chance with dice, evidently
very popular on all hands (II. ix. 4 ; V. xvii. 6, &c.).
If a young man was rich and clever, or his family had f

influence, he went to Rome and entered the Palatine ,

service, with the hope of rising to the high offices of !

the State. But his public life was usually over before
middle age, and he retired to enjoy the honorary rank I

conferred by his late office. If he had no taste for *

further publicity he remained at home, read and wrote,
followed his hounds, or acquired a taste for rural
economics ; kept up his classics and his ball-games ;
perhaps built additions to his villa. He might even grow
too absorbed in rural interests to visit town even in the
winter, like the Eutropius whom Sidonius rebuked, or
the Maurusius whose company he so highly valued.
Or he might advance a stage further, and think of

Introduction Ixi

nothing else, till he was lost to all ambition beyond
crops and stock, and sank into rusticity. There were
many such in Gaul, and in more than one letter Sidonius
alludes to them with regret or indignation.^ But the more
intellectual among the country gentlemen did not lightly
forget the culture of their younger years. Literature
probably occupied the class as a whole more than it has
ever done in modern Europe. The Gallo-Roman noble
was always a potential author, and valued himself as
a critic. Verses and epigrams were circulated from house
to house, ^ and the writers of these expected from every
reader a letter of acknowledgement, which could be
nothing less, under the circumstances, than eulogistic.
The more earnest students would edit a classic, and
keep copyists at work transcribing manuscripts for their
shelves. In their houses the library was a very important
room, and the scrolls and books were carefully arranged.^
We receive the impression that the proportion of well-
to-do people really fond of literature was high in the
second half of the fifth century; and though the devotion
to the classics in many ways recalls that of the Chinese

1 I. vi ; II. xiv. For Eutropius, who bade fair to become
a * country bumpkin \ Sidonius draws an admonitory picture
of the future, when the man who has allowed all his opportu-
nities to go by, will have to stand in his old age silent at the
back of the hall, an inglorius rusticus^ while younger men,
without his advantages of birth, sit in the front places and
express their judgement.

2 Verses were often enclosed or incorporated in letters
until, as in the correspondence of M. de Coulanges, they
must have seemed '• as numerous as Sibylline leaves' (Mme de
Sevigne, Letter 1177).

2 H. ix. 4, 5.

Ixii Introduction

literate to whom the past is everything, the precedence
given to literature over sport is a feature which commands
our respect.

For all this, the more strenuous noble must often
have found time hang heavy on his hands. He had
few outlets for his energy ; local politics were of the
slightest interest to him ; they were the affair of smaller
men, and he had, as a rule, little notion of what we now
call social service (see below, p. Ixx). But his duties
as father of a family were conscientiously performed ;
he sometimes himself took a part in his children's
education.^ Then there was the regular and voluminous
correspondence with his friends, comparable, in the care
lavished on style and diction, to the leisurely exchange
of letters by persons of culture in the eighteenth century.
Visits to friends living at a distance were also serious
undertakings; we find Sidonius making * rounds' which
range from Auvergne to Provence, from Bordeaux to
Lyons.2 On long expeditions he took his servants,
bedding, and all impedimenta ; where there was no
friend's house to offer hospitality, he camped (IV. viii),
or, if driven to it, used an inn (II. ix. 7; VIII. xi. 3).
Friends' houses stood open to each other, and liberal
hospitality reigned. But though good cooking was
evidently as general as in modern France, excess at table
was rather the exception than the rule. Hospitality,

1 Cf. IV. xii. I.

2 His friends are mostly of his own rank, but he may make
exception in favour of rhetors or grammarians, a class whose
company was eagerly sought in a society devoted to parlour-
rhetoric, Cf, the cordial invitation to Domitius, the Gram-
marian of Camerius (II. ii).

Introduction Ixiii

however, was sometimes insistent, then as now ; and in
one place Sidonius confesses that after the opulent
suppers of Ferreolus and Apollinaris a week's thin
living will do him good (II. ix. lo). If the noble was
a Christian, as was now very generally the case,^ public
religious duties played some part in his life. When
a church was consecrated, or the feast of the patron
saint came round, he made a point of attending the
services, which sometimes began even before daybreak :
at such festivals all classes came together, though they
did not mingle, and the intervals between the services
were occupied with games and conversation (V. xvii).
Or he would prepare to set out with all his family on
a pilgrimage to some important shrine, even when
the state of the roads was dangerous (IV. vi). With
these tranquil occupations his years passed by. But
if he bore a high character and was popular with his
neighbours, the quiet tenor of his life might be sud-
denly interrupted: he might wake one day to find himself
elected bishop, and the most earnest nolo episcopari was
not accepted as an excuse. If, on the other hand,
the Church made no such claim upon him, he declined
into a serene old age, and might have to listen in his
own bed to those contradictory verdicts of the doctors
whose quarrels in previous years disturbed his patience.^

^ But even as late as the end of the fifth century the
Christianity of some among the nobles was probably more
a matter of conformity than conviction, as it had been with
Ausonius at an earlier date (cf. Ausonius, Ep, ii. 15; X. xvii).

2 Cf. II. xiii, where Sidonius speaks of doctors who
conscientiously kill off their patients, and quarrel across the
invalid's bed.

Ixiv Introduction

He died; but though veneration for the dead was a
conspicuous virtue of his age, his family might forget
for two generations to erect his monument, and when
reminded by some accident of their duty, excuse each
other by citing the irrelevant cases of an Achilles and
an Alexander.^

Both in town and country, the nobles seem to have
led a large and sumptuous existence, in no way inferior
to that of their own class in Italy. The proud name
of Hhe lesser Rome of Gaul' which Ausonius applied to
Aries, ^ is justified by the letters alluding to the sojourn
of Majorian in that town. In one an imperial banquet
is described ; in another a private feast, given by an
acquaintance of Sidonius.^ In both cases the luxury
is redeemed by an intellectual atmosphere, but the
luxury is there, with all the genialis apparatus which
contemporary extravagance required. There are the
hangings of rich purple, the napery ' white as snow ',
the table-decoration of vine-tendrils and ivy ; there are
flowers in profusion. The guests recline, with balsam-
perfumed hair, while frankincense smokes to the roof,
and the very lamps are scented. The slaves bow
beneath the burden of chased silver plate ; choice
wines flow in cups crowned with rose-wreaths. There
is dancing, and music made on cithara and flute by
Corinthian girls and other professional musicians. It

^ Cf. Sidonius' apologia for the long neglect to erect a
monument over his grandfather's remains (III. xii. 6).

2 Gallula Ro?na Are las : Or do urbium nobiliu??tj X. 2.

3 The banquet of Majorian (II. xi) and that of a sodalis
quidani at Aries during the imperial sojourn in the town
(IX. xiii).

Introduction Ixv

all suggests an evening with Lucullus rather than
a dinner-party in a provincial capital. These were
special occasions ; but the general standard of life was
clearly high. There is a picture of one Trygetius, so
comfortable at Bazas amid the selected delicacies of his
storeroom^ that even the prospect of a gourmet's paradise
at Bordeaux cannot drag him from home. A snail would
outstrip this lazy personage, whom a comfortable boat
awaits on the Garonne, with 'mounds of cushions',
a grating to keep the feet dry, an awning to ward off the
evening damp, dice and backgammon to pass the idle
hours while, in frequent chants, the oarsmen sing his
praise. Even the delicata pigritia of Trygetius, thinks
Sidonius, must be tempted by this care for his comfort,
all leading to a veritable tournament of epicures at the
end. Who would imagine that when this invitation
was sent, the homes of these Gallic Sybarites were in
Visigothic territory, and that Theodoric was master of
Bordeaux ? Sidonius himself was comfortable enough
at Avitacum, with his winter and summer dining-rooms,
his elaborate baths, and his ball-ground down by the
lake (see below, p. xcv) ; while the lordly villa of
Consentius, the Octaviana^ was probably more extensive
still, with its porticoes and baths, its well-stocked library,
its vineyards and olive-groves, where the visitor hardly
knew which to praise most, the cultivation of the estate
or that of the master's mind (VIII. iv).^

It is in many respects a singularly refined life, free,

^ VIII. xii. copiosissima penus aggeratis opipare farta
deliciis. •

2 Difficile discernitur^ domiiti plusne sit cultu?n rus an
ingenium (VIII. iv. i).

546.22 I e

Ixvi Introduction

as a rule, from coarse vice and brutality. But no one
who reads either the letters of Sidonius, or any other
work descriptive of the fourth and fifth centuries, can
fail to be struck by a certain lack of broad aims or
ardent interests. These men are less primitive than
the barons of the Middle Ages, but in idealism and
fervour the mediaeval knights leave them far behind.
It has already been hinted that to find a parallel for
some of these lives, absorbed in solemn literary trifling,
we should have to look to the Far East, rather than to
any European state. These members of the senatorial
class ^ were possessed of enormous wealth, but they
seem to have had little encouragement to expend any
part of it for the benefit of their country.^ They
escaped the municipal taxation which they could well
afford ; ^ their chief use for surplus money was to lend

^ The distinction of ' senatorial * rank had ceased to bear
any direct relation to the Senate ; the title implied the status
conferred by the possession of a certain amount of landed
property, or the previous tenure of some honorary office or
dignity. After Constantine's time the class rapidly increased
in the provinces (cf. J. S. Reid, CM. H. i. 49).

2 The Gallic estates were not so large as the Italian, but
Ausonius had one, described as small, v^^hich exceeded a
thousand acres; and the great nobles owned numerous
properties. It may be assumed that Sidonius was a pro-
prietor on rather a large scale. Symmachus is thought to
have had about ;^6o, 000 a year of our money; if Sidonius
had only a third of that amount, he would still be a wealthy
man according to our ideas. The really opulent members of
the senatorial class had anything between ^^i 00, 000 and
;f2oo,ooo a year (cf. Dill, p. 126).

3 Though they paid a land-tax {folHs senatorius), the
aurum oblaiidu7?t, and other taxes imposed in the province
where they resided (cf. J. S. Reid, C. M. H. i. 50).

Introduction Ixvii

it at twelve per cent., and if possessed of business
instinct, to foreclose their mortgages.^ Thus they had
come to possess nearly the whole superficial area of
a country which they were not even supposed to defend.
If they wished to commit illegal acts, they could often
set themselves above the law. Provincial governors were
amenable to hospitality and open to social influence ;
a Seronatus could be persuaded to sanction courses
which the distant emperor would not have tolerated.
Judges were even more exposed to improper influence ;
the powerful noble had probably little difliculty in wrest-
ing a judgement, if he had the mind to do so. The
base arts to which some members of the senatorial class
descended to evade their share of taxation, or fill their
pockets at the expense of a defrauded state, disclose
a code of ethics for which too often public duty
was a phrase without a meaning.^ The honourable
men among them — a Tonantius Ferreolus, a Thau-
mastus — might discountenance such ignoble practices,
and lead the province in an attempt to obtain the punish-
ment of a bad governor. But they were in a minority,
and the evil grew despite their efforts. It is diflBcult
to understand how the nobles spent the princely incomes
which, by fair or unfair means, were always increasing.

1 The mortgagor generally became dependent on the mort-
gagee. In this relation may be sought one of the beginnings
of the feudal system (Dill, p. 218).

2 Cf. Dill, pp. 224 ff. The less scrupulous among the
senatorial class, indirectly engaged in commerce though
trading was forbidden to them, patronized usurers and
fraudulent creditors, winked at dishonest action on the part
of their agents, and overbore the lesser officials of the state
by their local prestige.

e 2

Ixviii Introduction

In modern times, with continual demands upon his purse
for all kinds of public objects, with the competition for
expensive works of art, with a thousand and one objects
of use or luxury daily forced upon his notice, it may be
supposed that the magnate can keep expenditure within
range of income. But the Roman millionaire, at any
rate in the provinces, had no great and steady drain on
his resources unless he was a devout man and prepared
to erect or restore churches as a practice. He might
spend considerable sums on his houses and baths ; but
as labour was cheap, if not unpaid, and as there is
a limit to construction, even building on a large scale
would not seriously diminish an income equivalent to
£50,000 a year. A few, like Magnus or Consentius,
might buy pictures or other works of art, but the sums
paid for them can hardly have been comparable with
those given for old masters to-day, nor do we gather
from the Letters that the love of art was really intense,
or widely disseminated in Gaul. The chief intellectual
interest was literary, and however enthusiastic it may
have been, it can hardly have depleted a senatorial
purse. There were manuscripts to buy, but, it may be
conjectured, not at the prices of the modern sale-room ;
and the rarer illuminated books were not yet collected
by the competitive methods of our day. If then there
were no hospitals to endow, no large yachts to maintain,
no subscription Hsts to head, on what did the provincial
millionaire spend his money .? He could only entertain
on a very lavish scale when resident in a town like
Aries, He gambled, but not, as far as we know, on
the heroic scale. He patronized the chase, but hunting
was then a cheap pursuit. The milliners' and jewellers'

Introduction Ixix

bills which he had to pay can hardly have caused him
much embarrassment ; the weaving, and probably the
making, of his wife's clothes was done by the maids of
the house ; and it may be doubted whether, in an age
when diamonds were practically unknown, the most
expensive jewellers could send him an inconvenient
account. His estate was self-supporting ; those who
tilled it largely worked for nothing or were recompensed
in kind ; ^ all the food and all the fuel required for
his household came from his own fields and woods.
' Clients ' cannot have been ruinously expensive where
food was cheap. He had only to feed and clothe his
domestic servants, not to pay them wages.^ The

1 A great part of the estate was tilled by slaves ; and such
part as was cultivated by coloni must have yielded the land-
owner a very handsome profit. Some labour was paid by
wages, but not a high proportion (J. Marquardt, Frivatlebcfty

P- 139)-

2 Probably the relations of the average master to his

servants were as a rule not unkindly : but there are excep-
tions, both good and bad. The admirable Vectius has a
devoted household (IV. ix. i ) ; the violent Lampridius is
murdered by his slaves (VIII. xi. ii). Sidonius was almost
certainly a good master, though once at least he shows
excitability (IV. xii. 2). An interesting Letter (V. xix) deals
with the abduction of a freed woman by a man in the servile
state. Sidonius, from whose house she had been taken, insists
with Pudens, whose slave the abductor was, that the man
should be also freed and so be promoted from the class of
cohni to that of plebeian clients {iiiox cliens /actus ^ e tributario
plebeiam potius incipiat habere personam quam colottariani).
The tenth Letter of Book IX is also of interest in this regard.
Injuriosus, who may have been a clerk, left Sidonius for
Aprunculus, bishop of Langres, without ceremony and without
the proper litterae commendatoriae, Sidonius stipulates that

Ixx Introduction

answer to the question probably is that the rich pro-
vincial noble did not and could not spend his income ;
year by year he became richer and ever more uselessly
rich.

That he did so was but one count in the indictment
against the Roman system of provincial government,
which threw such burdens on the middle class and the
lower class of freemen, that the vigour of both was
sapped, and the spirit of enterprise crushed out of
existence. It is unnecessary in the present place to
dwell upon the notorious evils of the Curial system,^
which gave the decurion all duties and no rights, and
the senatorial class all rights and no duties. We need
not linger over the folly which encouraged useless wealth
and useless lives in a class which, reasonably handled,
might have become a bulwark of the State. The noble
had no useful work to do. His tenure of quaestorship,
vicariate or prefecture once over, he had no further
career. He could not serve in the army ; he was not

if the offender should ever treat Aprunculus in a similar way,
both of them should prosecute him as a fugitive servant.

^ The reader will find references to the principal works
on the subject in Dill, p. 208; of. also C. M. H. i. 52;
J. Marquardt, already quoted, JRomische Staatsverwaltung,
i, 92 ff. For the municipality,see Prof. J. S. Reid, The Municipali-
ties of the Roman Empire, 1 91 3« The decurions had not only to
control municipal finance,but were responsible for the collec-
tion of imperial taxes. They had liabilities in connexion with
enlistment for the army, and with the maintenance of the
posting service on the great roads. During the fifth century
the imperial government made worthy efforts to improve juris-
diction and administration, but over-centralization neutralized
their effect in the provinces, where old abuses persisted and
reforms were not easily applied (cf. C. M. H. i. 396).

Introduction Ixxi

supposed to found an industry. There was no scope
for active brains except in literature, and literature was
now of such a kind that its propagation was of doubtful
advantage to the world. We can hardly wonder if men
unmanned, as it were, by statute failed the empire in its
need, or if the great proprietor made his estate his
world, and cared little for events beyond his boundaries.
He had become a fly upon the wheel of government,
brilliant perhaps, but an insect still, and adding no
momentum. Sidonius belonged to the best of his
order; he and his relations loved their country, and
were prepared to sacrifice everything for it. But custom
held them bound ; they had no chance to prove them-
selves until it was too late.

The Roman empire opened its own veins. But
there was nov/ within it an organism which drew to
itself new blood, and amid the general enfeeblement of
old institutions, grew daily in vitality. The Church
succeeded to the neglected opportunities of the State.
While the secular arm relaxed, the Church enlarged
her power, and drew the people to the one rallying-
point that remained to them amid the increasing dis-
ruption of society. ' In the civil world ', said Guizot,
many years ago, speaking of the fifth century, ' we find
no real government ; the imperial administration is
fallen, the senatorial aristocracy fallen, the municipal
aristocracy fallen as well. It is a tale of dissolution
everywhere. Authority and freedom alike are attacked
by the same sterility. In the religious world, on the
other hand, we see an active government, an animated
and interested people. Excuses for anarchy and
tyranny may be numerous ; but the liberty is real,

Ixxii Introduction

and so is the power. On all sides are the germs of
an energetic popular activity and of a strong executive.
This, in a word, is a society marching towards a future,
a stormy future fraught with evil as well as good, but
full of power and fecundity.'^ Here is the root of
the matter : the Church had a future and a present ; the
State had only a past. While the imperial officials
were too often regarded as instruments of tyranny,
whose only relation to the mass of the people was
external and oppressive, the leaders of the Church
were in constant touch with national and individual
life. Their homes were in the towns ; their houses
were open to all in trouble. Instead of being the
common enemy, the bishop was every one's friend,^
he stood in a regular relation to the municipal body,
and exercised certain judicial rights of his own.^

^ Hist, de la civilisation en France^ ed. 1846, i. 91. For
the organization of the Church, see C. H. Turner, in C. M. H.
i. 145. For the Catholic Church in barbaric territory, see
F. Dahn, Die Kbnige der Gerjfianen, vi. 367 ff. ; L. Schmidt,
Gesch, der deiUscheri Stainme^ Part I, p. 300 f. Of Arian
organization, either in the Visigothic or the Burgundian State,
practically nothing is known.

2 We see from VIII. xi (line 8 in the poem) that visitors
to the tow^n who could not find accommodation with their
friends sometimes expected the bishop to find room for them.
Many letters show the bishop in a most pleasant light as
mediator in family disagreements, or as patron of worthy
aspirants.

3 The Constitutions of 408 gave bishops civil jurisdiction
in their dioceses (C. M. H. i. 396). Several passages of
Letters in Book VI illustrate episcopal influence. As Baret
remarks, Sidonius always seems to assume that i\iQ pondus of
the bishop will settle the matter when it is placed in the
scale.

In troductton Ixxiii

Moreover, he controlled the Church lands in iiis
diocese, and had thus a power of the purse which
necessarily increased his consideration at a time of
general impoverishment. It is not astonishing that
under such circumstances the prestige of the bishop
steadily rose. In the time of Sidonius, the episcopate
was already moving towards the emancipation attained
in the sixth century ; but as yet the occupants of the
Gallic sees were men of such high character that there
was little abuse of their expanding authority. The
Letters bring no such charges of violent and unseemly
conduct as those which are scattered through the
pages of Gregory of Tours. ^ The bishops of the
expiring fifth century were powers in the land and
powers for good, mitigating the hardships of a dangerous
epoch, and standing forth in the public eyes as the true
representatives of national life. They were indeed
almost the only conspicuous figures who were visibly
doing national work, and the fact was widely recognized.
Good men of wealth and standing, condemned to in-
action by the absence of any secular career, must have
cast envious eyes upon this episcopal ofhce which
enabled its holders to serve their country so well ;
the hierarchy and the people, equally alive to the
importance of strengthening the Church by the admis-

^ Cf. Hist, Franc, IV, xii ; V. xxi. Sidonius does not
conceal his sentiments when he finds ground for disapproval
of the clergy, as in the case of the dissentient priests at
Bourges (VII. ix. 3). In IV. viii. 9 he implies that many
who v^ore clerical garb * imposed upon the world \ and that
he personally inclined to prefer the man * who is priestly in
morals to one who merely bears the priestly title '.

Ixxiv Introduction

sion of such valuable recruits, did not discourage
their aspirations.^ The Church was not so ill-advised
as to imitate the State in debarring from a share in her
activities the very men who could render the greatest
service ; she gave the nobles a ready welcome, not
merely because they were rich, though riches were
desirable, but because they were likely to possess, in
a more eminent degree than others, the high culture
and the great manner which the long habit of receiving
deference conferred. The Church had room, as histo-
rians have observed, for two types of bishop. She
needed, on the one hand, the learned pupil of the
monasteries, the theologian, preacher, and disciplinarian.
She needed, on the other, the man born to great place,
imposing respect by personal distinction, and a com-
manding figure in any company. She appreciated
a Faustus, pursuing as bishop the austerities which he
had practised as a monk ; she welcomed Remigius and
Principius, sons of a count, and the wealthy Patiens,
who could combine simplicity in his own life with
a lordly openness of hand and the most gracious
arts of hospitality (cf. VI. xii. 3). The aristocratic
bishop could serve her best not only in her relations
with imperial officials, whose day was almost gone,
but also with the barbarian princes, whose favour
grew more important with every year. As the empire
was ever further dismembered, and the Church provided
the one bond of union between the subjects of isolated
kingdoms, the diplomatic bishop continually proved his

^ It was the same in the case of men distinguished in the
professions : Germain of Auxerre was once a soldier ; Lupus
of Troyes an advocate.

Introduction Ixxv

worth. The Visigoth and the Burgundian were im-
pressed by his cuhure and his experience of the world ;
moreover, they were by tradition disposed to favour
high birth. There was thus a general tendency to
elect a certain number of aristocratic personages to
vacant sees, and a corresponding readiness, on the
part of the worthier noble, to look with favour on
such election, seeing, as he could not fail to do, that
the one way to be of use was to become a bishop. It
was therefore no unprecedented event when upon the
death of the Bishop of Clermont, Sidonius found him-
self called to succeed by the voice of his fellow country-
men in Auvergne. The call came perhaps too suddenly ;
it appeared rather a summons than an invitation ; but
the recipient of it was more ready for the change than
he supposed himself to be. And in spite of the mis-
givings which crowded upon his mind, he must have
seen ground for hope in more than one direction. In
leaving the aimless existence of the provincial magnate
for the living work of the Church, he joined an organiza-
tion which now assumed a commanding influence over
the whole moral and intellectual field ; to throw himself
with ardour into its work was to aid the one force in
the land which made for regeneration. The Church
appealed also to the scholar and man of letters. The
only original philosophical speculation of the day was
carried on by theologians like Faustus and Claudianus
Mamertus, who had persuaded Philosophy into the
service of Religion (IX. ix. 12).^ To rhetoric the
Church offered the one chance of effective action ;
the orator in the pulpit could feel that he was not
^ Cf. IV. iii ; and Chaix, i. 438.

Ixxvi Introduction

delivering a class-room declamation, but reaching the
hearts of men. The preacher could treat the great
subjects of Hfe, not as themes for academic display,
but with a purpose of practical reform ; the eloquence
of a Remigius carried away great congregations ; the
pulpit had succeeded the rostra, it alone spoke to an
assembly of the people.^ Even the education of the
young was beginning to pass into the control of
the Church : in the monastery of Lerins a school
was established by Faustus, at which a brother of
Sidonius was trained (Carm, xvi. 1. 70).^ The old
education was doomed to pass with the passing of the
empire ; it was a survival, unfitted for the coming age.
The people at large had no interest in the exercises of
rhetors and grammarians; they turned from them to
other teachers. And among these the former pupil of
Hoenius and Eusebius now took an honoured place.

We may briefly notice a few allusions in the Letters
to those ecclesiastical matters with which the second
part of Sidonius' life was so largely concerned. Great
as the influence of the bishops had become, it is clear
that it was still in some measure controlled both by
the general voice of the laymen, and by that of the
priesthood, now a body apart, and more definitely
severed from the community than in early Christian
times.^ We mark the survival of these two factors,

^ Cf. the effect produced by the address of Faustus at the
consecration of Patiens' new church at Lyons (IX. iii. 5),

2 For Church schools, see G. Kaufmann, Rhetor ens chulen
find Klosterschulen ,8cQ,.^ in K2iVim.Qx' s Hist oris c he s Taschenhich,
Ser. IV, vol. x, 1869, pp. 54 ff.

* For the growth of the influence of the Church as a body,
cf. C. H. Turner in C. M. H., as above, pp. 145, 152, 155.

Introduction Ixxvii

the popular and the priestly, in the interesting accounts
of the episcopal elections at Bourges and Chalon
(VII. ix ; IV. xxv). We there find the popular
vote still regarded as an integral part of the proceedings,
while some of the diocesan priests give vent to strong
opinions of their own, not always coincident with the
episcopal point of view. But in both cases the bishops,
though recognizing the traditional popular claim, succeed
in carrying their point. They hold a private meeting
at which they agree upon their candidate and it is this
candidate who is elected.^ The consecration of a new
bishop at Chalon is carried out by Patiens and Euphro-
nius in a masterful manner ; at Bourges, Sidonius
delivers a formal address calling upon the people to
accept Simplicius. At Bourges,^ indeed, the electors
seem to have recognized the necessary confusion
where ' two benchfuls ' of unscrupulous men were all
urging their claims to a single throne (VII. ix. 2).
When one aspirant based his hopes on his kitchen and
his dinners, and another on a promise to divide Church
property among his supporters, the evils of popular
election became apparent to all responsible laymen :
they abrogated their claims in favour of the bishops,
whose selection they agreed to accept. Such cases

^ If the bishops of the province could not attend, the
canon provided that those of neighbouring provinces should
be summoned. Thus at Bourges, Sidonius invites the co-
operation of Agroecius of Sens. Cf. Chaix, ii. 22.

2 Bourges had been in Gothic hands since about 470. Of
the bishops present at the election, two came from territory
which was still Roman, one from a diocese in Burgundian
territory. The fact illustrates both the universal character of
the Church, and the tolerance of the barbaric governments.

Ixxviii Introduction

probably illustrate as well as any examples could, the
evil tendencies which necessitated a change of system.^
And the people were not alone in the responsibility for
undesirable episodes on these occasions. At Bourges
the priests openly favoured promotion by seniority
rather than by merit, and Sidonius was obliged to
administer a sharp rebuke. It is plain that in the
late fifth century a tightening of the bonds of discipline
was inevitable, and this could only be effected by the
bishops.^ The intense and factious excitement aroused
on the occasion of an episcopal vacancy affords yet
another proof of the importance attaching to the bishop's
position. A see was worth fighting for ; so much so,
that the prize attracted candidates whose motives were
sometimes entirely base.^ Perhaps in the years pre-
ceding the disasters of a.d. 474 there had been a
certain laxity in the religious life of Gaul. Sidonius
alludes to public devotions in which the prayers were
too much interrupted by refreshments (V. xiv. 2) ; ^
the dicing and other amusements interspersed between
the services at the festival of St. Just seem in rather

^ For the gradual elimination of the popular element see
C. H. Turner, as above, p. i^^,

2 Though the authority of Rome was unquestioned, through-
out the Letters there is no mention of appeal to, or intervention
by, the Pope.

3 In the sixth century, though the Prankish kings exerted
an influence over the elections, scandals continued to occur, if
not quite in the same way as at Bourges and Chalon (Gregory
of Tours, Hist, Franc, IV, xxxv; VI. vii, xxxviii).

* Erant quidem prius^ quod salva fidei pace sit dictum ^
vagaCj tepentes^ infi-equentesque^ utque sic dixerim, oscita-
bundae supplicationes y quae saepe interpellantum prandiorum
obicibus hebetabantur.

Introduction Ixxix

too dose an alternation with the devotions of the day
(V. xvii).^ There may have been in many places an
excessive preoccupation with the material side of life,
which affected even those whose office it was to inspire
thoughts of the opposite kind. An Agrippinus in holy
orders harassing his sister-in-law on money matters is
not a pleasant figure (VI. ii). Nor can we approve the
apparent toleration of money-lending in the case of
priests (IV. xxiv). But against such examples may
be set others of a very different kind, which show that
there was a strong leaven of piety and devotion both
among clerics and among laymen. In the monasteries
there was severe self-discipline, and many of the dis-
tinguished monks or abbots who were taken from
Lerins to fill the sees of Gaul, carried into their new
spheres of activity all the monastic rigour to which
they had been accustomed.^ The Syrian monk Abraham,
who after being driven from his native country by

^ Sometimes festivals were protracted for many days. That
which celebrated the consecration of Patiens' church lasted
a whole week (IX. iii. ^festis hebdomadalibus). Cf. the long
festival at Gaza : G. F. Hill, The Life of Porphyry ^ Bishop
of Gaza, by Mark the Deacon^ 191 3, ch. 92.

2 Thus Lupus of Troyes transferred to his diocese prayers
in use at Lerins (IX. iii). The austerities of Faustus have
been already mentioned. For the development of monastic
life in the West in the early Christian centuries, see Dom
Butler in C. M. H. i. 531 ff. There was no ordered code or
written rule, except the short rule of Caesarius of Aries, until
the seventh century. Before that time the eremitical type
of monachism practised in Egypt and Syria prevailed, some-
times with the extreme austerities habitual in the latter
country. It is even doubtful whether Honoratus wrote a rule
for Lerins.

Ixxx Introduction

Sassanian persecution, had finally settled down at
Clermont (see below, pp. Ixxxiii, civ), afforded another
example of renunciation,^ which produced its eifect even
upon Victorius, Euric's Count of Auvergne(VILxvii. i).
Vectius, the noble who maintained his place in the
world while secretly practising a devout life, is, as
Dill has observed, a character which might be taken
from Law's Serious Call (IV. ix). The ex-quaestor
Domnulus, a friend of Sidonius, goes into retreat in
the monasteries of the Jura (IV. xxv). Simplicius,
while a young man, straitens his resources by building
a church, Elaphius builds a baptistery in Rouergue
(IV. xv).

It is natural that we should learn more from Sidonius
of the contemporary bishops than of the lower ranks in
the Church, since it was with them that he had chiefly
to correspond. Many attractive figures pass before us,
some already familiar, as having their recognized place
in the history of their age. There is the aged Lupus
of Troyes (S, Loup), the doyen of Gaulish bishops,
who in spite of advanced years and many anxieties,
received the news of Sidonius' election with fatherly
satisfaction, and, for all his saintliness, was human
enough to take umbrage at a supposed breach of literary
etiquette (IX. xi). There is Remigius (S. Remi),
the apostle of the Franks, to whose glowing eloquence

1 Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc, II. xxi, and Vit, Patr,
iii. In Bk. VI, ch. vi, of the former work, Gregory alludes to
the miracles of the saintly recluse Hospicius of Nice, who in
the second half of the sixth century made his usual diet of
bread and dates, and in Lent subsisted on roots brought in
merchant-ships from Egypt. In Gregory's time Auvergne
still contained hermits practising extreme asceticism.

Introduction Ixxxi

Sidoniiis bears his testimony (IX. vii). There is
Faustus, the daring theologian of the day, and leader
of a semi-Pelagian school in the south of Gaul, whose
work on Free Grace was condemned by Pope Gelasius,
and whose anonymous treatise on the Materiality of
the Soul elicited the De Statu Antmae of Claudianus
Mamertus.^ There is the learned Graecus of Mar-
seilles, whose part in ratifying the treaty of surrender
drew from Sidonius the bitter reproach of outraged
patriotism, but did not ultimately affect the friendly
relations between them. There are St. Euphronius
of Autun, Leontius of Aries, Perpetuus of Tours,
Basilius of Aix, and many others less known to pos-
terity.^ Finally there is Patiens, for whom Sidonius
is the sole authority, the saintly and generous bishop
who relieved the distress even of those living far
beyond the limits of his own diocese, and rebuilt on
a magnificent scale the old church of the Maccabees
at Lyons : for him, as bishop of his native town,
Sidonius may well have felt an almost filial affection.
Of the ' second order ' in the Church, the priests,
we hear comparatively little. The most distinguished

^ IV. ii, iii. Tertullian, Jerome, and Cassian had given
support to the doctrine thus proclaimed by Faustus, and
Augustine had taken a prominent part on the other side.
A chief argument used by Faustus was that to call the soul
of man immaterial is to claim for it a quality belonging only
to God (cf. Dill, p. 184). For the treatise of Faustus, see
Gennadius, De Scj^ipt. Eccles. 85. In Engelbrecht, Corpus
Script, Eccles. Lat,y the treatise and Claudianus Mamertus'
reply are printed together.

^ Among them Fonteius, Auspicius, Agroecius, Principius,
and Aprunculus, the successor of Sidonius at Clermont.

546.22 I f

Ixxxii Introduction

among them is the above-mentioned Claudianus Mamertus,
the religious philosopher of Gaul, who combined high
speculation with orthodox belief, while at the same time
aiding his brother Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, in
almost all the practical work of the diocese, from the
receipt of the revenues to the training of the choir
(IV. xi). Most other priests whose names are men-
tioned in these pages are names and nothing more ;
it is a matter for regret that there is no portrait of the
parish priest and his activities, such as the most literary
bishop of Gaul could so well have drawn for us on his
return from one of his extended visitations. Of the
inferior orders, one or two deacons ('Levites') are
briefly introduced. Proculus, a pupil of Euphronius,
is praised as reflecting in his manner something of the
urbanity of his master Principius (IX. ii) ; a more
unfortunate Levite, who, driven from home by the
barbarian incursion, has sown a crop on church-lands
in the diocese of Auxerre, finds a ready advocate in
Sidonius, who begs of Bishop Censorius the remission
of the payments due (VI. vii). Two Readers {lectores)
also find mention in these pages, one, the impudent
Amantius, several times, and once at great length ;
the other, an unnamed person engaged in commerce,
whom the influence of Graecus is to convert from
a small trader into a ' splendid merchant ' {splendidus
mercator (VI. viii). Of the monks in Gaul Sidonius
gives but scanty information. An Abbot Chario-
baudus receives a gift of a cowl for winter use (VIL
xvi) ; but though allusions are made to the great houses
of Lerins and Grigny, and to the smaller houses of
Condat and Lauconne in the Jura, the Letters give us

Introduction Ixxxiii

no details of monastic life.^ We only learn that on
the death of the monk Abraham, the founder of
St. Cirgues at Clermont, his successor had not the
qualities which maintain order, and Sidonius asks his
friend Volusianus to act as a kind of Superior with-
out the walls (VII. xvii); perhaps in the founder's
time these monks followed an oriental custom, and
Volusianus was now to introduce the stricter rules
of Lerins or Grigny. It was at St. Cirgues that
some ill-conditioned person removed Sidonius' book
when he was conducting a service, with the vain idea
of causing him embarrassment (Gregory, Hist, Franc.
II. xxii), a rather curious little episode, which, if
really founded on fact, throws an interesting side-light
on the maintenance of monastic discipline. The house
ultimately became a priory and lasted till the close of
the eighteenth century. ^

Though as a young man Sidonius was familiar with
the court of Theodoric II at Toulouse (I. ii), no small
part of his experience among the barbarians was gained
when he had become a bishop. We have seen that
after his imprisonment in the fortress of Li via, he

^ It has been already noticed that previous to their election
to the sees of Troyes and Riez, Lupus and Faustus had both
occupied the position of Abbot of Lerins. Hilary of Aries
and Eucherius of Lyons had been members of the same com-
munity. A brief description of a visit paid by Sidonius to
Lerins is given in Carm, xvi. 105 ff., and the visit is alluded
to in IX. iii. For Lerins, cf. note, 80. i, on p. 239. Cf. also
VI. i ; VII. xvii. 3 ; VIII. xiv. 2 ; IX. iii. 4. For the Jura
monasteries, see note, 47. 2, p. 235.

'^ Chaix, ii. 224.

f2

Ixxxiv Introduction

seems to have been compelled to wait the king's
pleasure at Bordeaux ; and in the course of his efforts
to recover his lost property, he must have been brought
into contact with various members of the Visigothic
administration. It was at Bordeaux that he saw those
representatives of the different barbarian tribes whose
personal characteristics he has described, some of them
captives like himself, others rendering voluntary service
to a dreaded master. At both periods of his life he
must have been familiar with the Burgundians, whose
territory even in his youth was at no great distance
from his native town. But in their case also, the
acquaintance which was so distasteful to his fastidious
mind was renewed at a later time after they had entered
on the possession of Lyons. His female relations con-
tinued to reside in that city ; and he went there after his
entry into the Church, to see not only his family, but also
the Burgundian king who stood with Rome against the
aggression of Euric.^ It must have been painful in
the extreme for one to whom Roman culture meant so
much, to hear the guttural voices of the barbarians in the
streets where in his young days he had passed to and
fro with his Latin classics ; to see ' skin-clad ' guards
at the gate of the praetorium where Rome had dis-
played the symbols of her power, and, penetrating to
the halls built for an imperial magistrate, to be welcomed
by the gross good-humoured chieftain whom Patiens
conciliated by excellent dinners (VI. xii. 3). Sidonius
paid his court, as duty to his people compelled him to
do; he took the opportunity of interceding for his

1 V. vi, vii.

Introduction Ixxxy

kinsman Apollinaris, threatened by the malevolence
of the informers who now infested the barbarian
capitals ; but, all the time, the iron must have entered
into his soul. Like his brother-in-law Ecdicius, who
in like manner had frequented these same halls, he must
have suffered from a keen sense of humiliation. There
was but one consolation, that however unrefined the
Visigoth and the Burgundian might appear by com-
parison with the Roman standard, they were humane
and civil compared with the pagan Frank and the fierce
piratical Saxon of the north.^

It was indeed the peculiar good fortune of central
and southern Gaul that the two peoples which here
succeeded to the Roman inheritance were the best of
all the conquering Teutons. The Visigoths belonged
to a tribe which had now been in contact with imperial
civilization for generations and had adopted much from
Roman law and custom ; the Burgundians, though out-
wardly less civilized, were the most genial and good-
natured of all the German nations. The great drawback
to both lay in their common profession of the Arian
heresy, but for which the Gallo-Romans might have
acquiesced far more readily in their dominion, and the
ultimate triumph of the Frank would hardly have been

^ But in their family relations both the Visigothic and
Burgundian royal houses were guilty of murderous brutality.
It has been noted that Theodoric II assassinated his brother
Thorismond, and was in turn assassinated by Euric. Gundobad
the Burgundian in like manner murdered two of his brothers,
destroying at the same time the wife and children of Chilperic
under circumstances of such cruelty that public opinion became
indignant, and Sidonius' friend Secundinus, the poet of Lyons,
wrote a satire against the king (V. viii).

Ixxxvi Introduction

so rapid.^ Religious fanaticism apart, and this only
flamed fiercely in the ten years of Euric's reign, the
relations between provincial and barbarian were those
of mutual tolerance.^ Neither Visigoth nor Burgun-
dian was animated by any inveterate hostility to Rome.
They had been confirmed in possession of their present
territory by imperial sanction;^ it had been their earlier
ambition to rank 2iS foederati \ the Burgundian king was
even now proud to hold rank under the empire.^ It
was impossible even for the most exclusive Roman
citizen to forget that the fabric of the empire had been
preserved by barbarian arms, and that the great Stilicho
was a Vandal. Nor could personal charm be denied
to those Teutonic leaders who had learned the arts
of Roman life. In Italy itself there had been con-
spicuous examples ; and though the portrait of Theo-
doric II in I. ii is perhaps overdrawn for a temporary
political purpose, his manner of life was tolerably
civilized. The Goths and Burgundians were prepared
to treat the Gallo-Romans without violence ; but they
were determined ultimately to dominate the whole of
central and southern Gaul. Before the time came for
the full satisfaction of that ambition, they were as
a rule inclined to live peaceably with their neighbours ;

^ The hostility of the clergy w^as always a danger to
Alaric II before the final conflict with Clovis (cf. L. Schmidt,
Geschichte der deutschen Stamme^ p. 302).

2 Dill, Bk. IV, chs. i and ii.

^ The Visigoths had been granted Aquitanica Secunda and
Toulouse by Honorius. The Burgundians were established
south of Lake Leman by Aetius.

* Cf. V. vi. 2, where Chilperic is described as magister
militum (V. vi ; cf. VII. xvii).

Introduction Ixxxvii

meanwhile they were subjected to a continual process
of Romanization,^ their new relation to the land and
their inferior knowledge of agriculture alone making
them to a great extent dependent on Roman law.

On their side, the Gallo- Romans were used to the
presence of the northerner in their midst. The indi-
vidual Teutonic peasant or slave had been a familiar
figure in their households or on their farms since
the days when the military emperors had distributed
thousands of prisoners over the land. It was recog-
nized, not by the fiery Salvian ^ alone, but by the
average inhabitant, that the barbarians had their good
qualities, and that in blunt honesty and the sense of
justice the Teutonic chief might excel the Roman
official. When the imperial system degenerated beyond
redemption, when a Seronatus succeeded an Arvandus,
and the extortions of the tax-gatherers were hardly to
be borne, the perception became general that life might

^ Cf. L. Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 271. Prof. Schmidt con-
siders that the Visigoths treated the Gallo-Romans almost on
a footing of equality before the law (ibid. p. 279), while the
Biirgundians certainly conceded equal rights (ibid, p. 403).

^ Salvian, holding a brief for barbaric integrity against
Roman corruption, may exaggerate the virtue of his clients ;
but his attribution of hospitality, chastity, and honesty to
various tribes was probably founded on contemporary experi-
ence. He does not altogether close his eyes to their faults,
styling the Goths perfidious, and the Franks untruthful. (For
Salvian, see Hodgkin, i. 504.) Ammianus (XXII. vii) con-
firms Salvian on the national perfidy of the Goths (XXII. 7) ;
and it is interesting to note that after the Frankish Conquest
the Goths were regarded as poor fighting men, shunning close
quarters, and relying on the bow (Gregory of Tours, Hist,
Franc, ii. 27, 37).

Ixxxviii Introduction

be more tolerable in Septimania, or under Chilperic than
under the jurisdiction of Rome. Except in Auvergne,
where among a section of the inhabitants loyalty to
Rome was a passion, the country was being gradually
prepared for the inevitable transference of sovereignty.
The poor man often longed for the change ; the rich
man resigned himself to unavoidable fate. The one
felt that his lot could not be worse ; the other saw
that the civilized life of ease might be led almost as
agreeably at Toulouse or Bordeaux, which had been
Visigothic for half a century, as in the cities remain-
ing to the empire (cf. above, p. Ixv). It may be
added that even as fighting men the barbarians did
not inspire universal terror. The intruders were in
a numerical inferiority which increased with each fresh
annexation, and the Gallo-Roman could remember more
than one occasion on which, man for man, Roman
warriors had proved their equals.^ Moreover the
barbarian tribes were not united against Rome. The
Burgundian was jealous of the Visigoth, and even
lent troops to Auvergne to assist in opposing his
advance. Perhaps the worst feature in the situation
was the general suspense ; the uncertainty when the
blow would fall paralysed such public life as remained.
The administration continued to deteriorate ; the officials
were openly dishonest. The roads were insecure.

* As already noted, Avitus' son Ecdicius showed, during
the last struggle for Auvergne, that the race of heroes was
not extinct (III. iii). Under Gothic rule, Gallo-Romans
were probably exempt from military service (see note 64. i,
p. 238), but they served in the Burgundian ranks (Schmidt,
Geschichte^ p. 40).

Introduction Ixxxix

Fugitives from unjust usage established themselves in
fastnesses and seized on all property which could be
carried ofF.^ They were joined by bankrupts, runaway
agents or cultivators from the great estates, in short by
every one to whom the lawless life appealed. Rome
was ceasing to maintain order ; she had to make way
for a power which could.

Perhaps when the blow did fall, it proved, for a
time at least, more serious than the sanguine had
expected.^ Euric was an intolerant Arian ; the pas-
sive or active resistance of the Catholic clergy provoked
him to harsh treatment of individuals, while he pre-
vented new appointments to sees left vacant by death
or deprivation. Churches fell in ruin ; bereft of their
pastors, flocks were scattered.^ He was further in-
censed by the obstinate resistance of Auvergne ; his
troops burned the crops and devastated the country,
thus causing the most widespread distress. But as
soon as the treaty was concluded and Berry and
Auvergne were his own, he in some measure justified
the hope that the Goths would establish a reputable
government. He already had at his right hand, as

* Cf. VI. iv. I. The Vargi in many ways resembled the
Bagaudae of an earlier time. Cf. Salvian, De Gub. Dety
V. 24, 25; Sirmond, iVb/^^, p. 65; Dill, p. 315; Hodgkin,
ii. 104.

2 But at its worst how different from the fate which
ultimately befell our own country (cf. Haverfield in C. M. H.,
, pp. 378 ff. ; C. W. C. Oman, England before the Norman
Conquesty Bk. Ill, ch. xi).

^ Sidonius says that Euric was not so much the prince as
the chief-priest of his nation (VII. vi. 6 ut ambigaSy ampliusne
suae gentis an suae sect ae tene at principattitti).

xc Introduction

prime-minister, the Catholic Gallo-Roman Leo ; ^ he
now set over the conquered Auvergne another Gallo-
Roman, Victorias ; and we may perhaps assume that
the episcopal negotiators of the treaty had secured
from him better conditions for the Catholic population
under his rule (see above, p. xlii). As a whole, the
newly acquired territory settled down under Visigothic
laws, in which, as we have seen, much Roman law
was now incorporated.^ A sensible loss to the sena-
torial families was that of the ' consular ', ' prefectorian ',
and other titles derived from their passage through
the cursus honorum. As Sidonius says, the only
distinction now was culture, so that the jealous main-
tenance of Roman literature and the purity of Latin
speech became more than ever important. "^ A few
nobles followed the example of Leo and Victorius,
and took high office under the new regime, as they
did in like manner at the Burgundian courts.^ Evodius,
for whose presentation-cup to Ragnahild Sidonius wrote
his verses (IV. viii), may have succeeded in pushing
his fortunes in this manner. Other conspicuous Gallo-
Romans were perhaps content to ingratiate themselves

* Leo probably combined in his own person the functions
of the Quaestor Sacri Palati (the highest legal officer) and
the magister officiorwn or head of the Civil Service (cf.
Schmidt, C. M. H. i. 290).

2 For the Visigothic administration of justice, with its
twofold system for Goth and Gallo-Roman respectively, see
L. Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 295-6 ; for the Burgundian, ibid.

P- 423-

3 Cf. II. X ; IV. xvii.

* Syagrius, if not an official, was a persona grata at Lyons
(V. V).

Introduction xci

with their prince by the arts of flattery : such was
Lampridius, the orator and poet of Bordeaux (VIII. ix).^
The baser sort found their advantage in becoming in-
formers, and trading in the properties and Hves of their
fellow countrymen.^ Their machinations were in one
case thwarted by the interventions of Chilperic's queen,
whose support was of such worth to Patiens. The
respect which the Teutonic princes and peoples showed
to their women was a virtue which did much to make
them respected by their Gallo-Roman subjects.

Probably Sidonius came into close personal relations
with no barbarians other than the Visigoths and Bur-
gundians; of the rest he had a glimpse during his
sojourn at Euric's court (see below, p. cix), or only knew
by hearsay.^ His experience was gained in the most
favourable field ; but it is clear that though in younger
days he had followed his father-in-law's pro-Gothic
policy, and though as a Visigothic subject he schooled
himself to civility, the intensity of his Roman sympa-
thies never suffered him to like even the best of the
barbarians. In a confidential letter he makes the con-
fession that he does not care for barbarians even when
they are good (VII. xiv. lo). He despised them as
lacking in the refinements of the one culture in which
he believed. The personal habits of the Burgundians

^ Sidonius* rather fulsome poem on Euric reached the
king's eyes through being written in a letter to Lampridius,
who was intended to exhibit it (VIII. ix). Cf. above, p. xlvi.

2 V. vi, vii. Sidonius* denunciation of these men, though
written in his most artificial style, breathes a genuine and
righteous indignation.

' So, perhaps, the Vandals, whose raiding habits he de-
scribes in the Panegyric of Majorian (11. 386 ff.).

xcu

Introduction

revolt him,^ he indulges in a subdued sneer at the
culture of the Visigothic court : the quality of the
silver of Ragnahild's cup, not that of the verses en-
graved on it, will alone be esteemed ' in such an
Athenaeum ' (cf. above, p. xlvi). The barbarians are
always the skin-clad savages {pellitt)^ as compared with
the Romans in their civilized dress.^ In a time of
strained relations, the Visigoths become the perfidious
people (J'oed'tfraga gens\ in whom no reliance can be
placed (cf. p. Ixxxvii, note ^). This ingrained dislike
on the part of Sidonius is an unfortunate circumstance
for the historian of the barbaric nations. He was
in a position which offered him priceless opportunities
to observe not only the outward appearance of a few
ypes casually seen at Bordeaux or Lyons, but the
daily life of the community. He might have learned
to converse with them, given us examples of their
speech, told us their proverbial wisdom, their legends
and their history. He did none of these things.
The apostle of Latin idiom would not soil his lips
with the detested German tongue. An Athenian,
forced to learn Persian under a victorious Xerxes,
would not have suffered more than this Patrician, if
Visigothic had been made a compulsory language in
vanquished Gaul. It is clear that he only half admires

1 VII. xiv. In Carm, XII. vi he asks how he is to write
verses in six feet, with seven-foot giants all about him. The
Burgundians also greased their hair with rancid butter, had
enormous appetites, and spoke in stentorian tones. The
poem is translated by Fertig (Part ii, p. 17).

2 We may recall Anthemius* complaint (cf. p. xxxiii
above).

Introduction xciii

the cleverness of a Syagrius who became so proficient
in the Burgundian dialect that old men were afraid of
being detected by him in solecism (V. v. 3).

It is a great opportunity lost.^ But though he falls
lamentably short of what he might so easily have
accomplished, Sidonius has left several sketches of
barbarian types which are not without their value to
the student of history and ethnology, or even to the
literary man. It was probably at Lyons that he saw
the young Prankish (?) prince Sigismer in his rich
apparel, walking amongst his guards to the house of
his prospective father-in-law, the Burgundian Chilperic
(IV. xx). The description is full of interest, and
has attracted the attention of every historian of the
fifth century ; so circumstantial is it that though the
nationality of Sigismer is not stated, it may be fairly
inferred from his equipment and his arms.^ But, as
already noted, it was during his enforced stay at
Bordeaux that the Bishop of Clermont had occasion
to observe the various representatives of the northern
tribes who pressed upon one another at the court of
the powerful Euric (VIII. ix). There he saw the
swift Herulian with his glaucous countenance ; ^ the
blue-eyed Saxon ' arch-pirate ', terror of the coasts ; ^
the grey-eyed Frank with his shaven face, yellow hair,
and close-fitting tunic ; ^ the Sigambrian, shorn of his

^ Hodgkin has accentuated this point (ii, p. 372).
■^ See below, note 35. i, p. 233. Chateaubriand, in Le
MariyrSy adapts Sidonius' description of the Franks.
3 Cf. Carf?t, vii. 236. Cf. note 155. 2, p. 247.
^ VIII. vi. 15, and cf. Carj?i, vii. 369.
^ Car?n. vii. 236 : also Pan. Ma?. 210 ff.

xciv Introduction

treasured back-hair.^ His knowledge of Mongolians
probably dates from an earlier time, and is not dis-
played in the Letters ; it may chiefly have been derived
from Avitus, who knew the Asiatic nomads well from
the days of Attila, Aetius, and Litorius. What Sido-
nius has to say of them is to be found in his Panegyric
of Anthemius, where he praises the horsemanship of
troopers who seem rather centaurs than men separable
from their mounts.^ From hearsay also may have
come the extremely interesting description of the
Saxons, ' who regarded shipwreck as only so much
practice/ Their maritime skill and enterprise are
told in a few vigorous phrases, while their custom of
offering a human sacrifice before setting sail on the
homeward voyage is recorded as a fact of common
knowledge.^ Taken as a whole, these contributions
to our knowledge of the Teutonic tribes are well worth
having, though, for the reasons given above, they at the
same time disappoint us, knowing as we do the unique
nature of his opportunities. After all, great allowance
must be made for a writer who had championed a lost
cause against these very peoples of the north. The
representative of a high civilization who fears that all
refinement is going down before the flood of barbarism
cannot be expected to regard the barbarian with the
same sympathetic interest as the conqueror or pioneer

^ VIII. ix, 11. 28 ff. of the poem. The term ' Sigambrian * is
used generically for the tribes of the lower Rhine (W. Schultze,
Deutsche Gesch. ii. 38), and the present captives may have
been taken during some expedition of Euric*s troops against
the Franks.

2 Carm, ii. 243.

3 In the letter to Namatius, VIII. vi.

Introduction xcv

who carries the banner of the higher culture into the
wilderness in the confident assurance of its triumph.
Had Sidonius accompanied a victorious Roman army
to the shores of the Baltic, he might have looked
upon the Teuton with other eyes, and developed some
of the observant qualities of a Tacitus or a Lafitau.
And yet, when we remember his silence on his own
countrymen of the lower classes, we may perhaps doubt
whether, even under stimulating conditions, he would
have made a good scientific observer. The whole
education and training of the Roman school were such
as to make the scientific attitude almost impossible to
the finished product of the system.

Before turning to consider that system and its efl^ect
upon the literary talent of Sidonius, we may pause
briefly to consider the information which he supplies on
several external aspects of Gallo-Roman civilization in
the last years of the imperial connexion.

We may take, in the first place, his description of
his villa Avitacum, evidently modelled upon Pliny's
accounts of his own favourite country seats. In
some parts this description is hard to follow, and
the relative position of the principal chambers not
quite easy to understand. We imagine, however, an
extensive structure designed with all the Roman regard
for aspect ; with a winter dining-room provided with
an open hearth, and summer dining-room, half out of
doors ; with colonnade and loggia, weaving-room,
women's quarters, and very extensive baths.^ The

^ Perhaps there were sleeping-rooms for the daily siesta as
well as for the nightly rest, as was the case at the villa of
Caninius Rufus on the shores of Como, described in one

xcvi Introduction

baths were clearly a great feature of Avitacum. The
house almost abutted upon an eminence, from which
a stream flowed down, while the same hill provided
timber for heating in such convenient fashion that the
cut logs rolled down the steep slope, and almost de-
livered themselves at the furnace-door.^ The different
chambers used by the bathers, some of which were
adorned with frescoes, are described in some detail ;
one had a pyramidal roof ; another a basin filled from
pipeheads cast to resemble lion-masks, through which
the water comes in such a tumult that the master of the
house and his fellow bathers have to c6nverse at the
top of their voices to be heard. Sidonius clearly prided
himself on his baths, saying that they need fear no
comparison with public establishments.^ The house of

of Pliny's letters {Ep. I. iii). The account of the open
apartment at Avitacum looking out on the lake, where the
guest might sit in contemplation at any hour, suggests a place
adapted for the siesta.

* As excavations in more than one country sufficiently
prove, the hypocaust was commonly used for other rooms
beside the bath. Cf. Carm, xxii. 188, where the hiberna
domus of Leontius is described ; here the wood-fed furnace
spargit le7ttatum per culmina tola vaporeni — in fact, central
heating.

- He mentions also the baths in the Octaviana of Consentius
at Narbonne, and those in the Burgus of Leo near Bordeaux
{^Carm. xxii.).

Almost more interesting than Sidonius* description of
these elaborate structures, is the account which he gives
of the extemporized vapour-baths used by him at Vorocingus
and Prusianum, where the baths of his hosts were for some
reason unavailable. He there caused a pit to be dug and
enclosed by an arched roof of wattling, upon which coverings

Introduction xcvii

Avitacum must have been a charming place, situated on
rising ground with a wide prospect over a lake, perhaps
the Lake of Aydat (see note, 36. 2, p. 222); it is not
wonderful that the owner should describe it with enthu-
siasm. But there are curious omissions in the description
of its amenities. It is remarkable that so bookish a man
should say nothing of his own books, though he could
certainly have quoted Cicero's words about his library
{Ep, VI. viii), and in another letter dwells at some
length on that of a friend. Again, while there must
have been extensive gardens round such a residence,
not a word is said of them, though, here again, the
gardens of a friend are praised in another place. How
different Pliny, who dwells with delight upon his foun-
tains and trim walks, his cypresses and roses ! We
are tempted to doubt whether Sidonius really loved
flowers.^ Nothing, again, is said of stables ; nor is
there a word of domestic pets ; we doubt Sidonius as

of Cilician goat's-hair were laid. Red-hot stones were placed
in the pit and upon these warm water was thrown, with the
result that the improvised chamber was filled with vapour.
In this the bather sat for some time, receiving when he came
out a douche of cold water. The whole procedure recalls
that employed in Russia, the East, and in primitive America
(cf. note, 52. 2, p. 225). For the general arrangement of Roman
baths, see Daremberg and Saglio, Diet, des ant. grecques et rom.
i. 651 ; Marquardt, Frivatleben, pp. 279 ff. It is interesting
to contrast Sidonius* descriptions of Roman country-houses
with what he has to say of the palace of Theodoric II at
Toulouse (I. ii). There he describes a large hall of audience,
a treasure-chamber, and a stable, but nothing is said of any
baths.

^ But cf. Carm, xxiv. 56 ff., where the garden of ApoUinaris
is mentioned.

546. 22 I g

xcvili Introduction

a lover of animals. Yet, for its freshness and solitude,
Avitacum was evidently near to his heart ; there he
enjoyed the tunic ata quies,^ which to the Roman was
the equivalent of the ease in ' flannels ' so delightful to
the city dweller of to-day. We gather that the villa of
Avitacum was as undefended as Roman country-houses
usually were. But it is a sign of this unsettled period
that some seats were already fortified, rather, perhaps,
to resist sudden attack by brigands than assault by bar-
barian invaders.^ We learn nothing precise from the
Letters of the architectural features of town dwellings.
It would have been interesting to know the disposition
of the houses in such a place as Lyons, and how those
of the chief citizens resembled the larger residences in
Italy on the one side and Britain on the other.^

^ Leaving off the toga was one of the first delights of
country life. Pliny {Ej>. V. vi. 45) says of one of his haunts
nul/a necessitas togae (cf. Juvenal, Sat. iii. 171).

^ The Burgus of Leontius was fortified. Dill (p. 310)
notes the fact that in isolated cases such fortification seems to
have begun at the time of the Visigothic settlement in Gaul.
The remains of the castle built by Dardanus, Prefect from
409 to 413, were identified by an inscription found on the
spot (C. I. L. xii. 1524). Cf. Fauriel, Hist» de la Gaule
meridionale ^ i. 560. The foundation of these strongholds in
difficult country heralded the approach of a feudal system.

3 The absence of information about the towns themselves
is also disappointing. Several allusions show that they were
protected by walls : thus Vienne (VII. i. 2) and Clermont
(III. ii. i). The mention of the statues in the forum at Aries
is interesting (I. xi. 7), and the allusion to the deer which
took refuge in the forum at Vienne (VII. i. 3) seems to show
that the forum of that place still stood in the late fifth
century.

Introduction xcix

Of the interior furnishing of the house, little is said ;
apart from the description of baths, what details we
have concern almost exclusively the dining-room. Here
were the stibadtum (horseshoe couch) and ' gleaming
sideboard ' {nitens abacus) ; here couches for the diners,
decked perhaps, like those of Theodoric, with linen
coverings on ordinary days, and silk on great occasions
(I. ii). The best accounts of dining-room arrange-
ments are given where Sidonius describes the banquets
at Aries already mentioned (p. Ixiv). In I. xi the
arrangement of the company on the siibadium in strict
order of precedence is clearly noted, the host being at
one ' horn ', his principal guest at the other, followed
by the remaining guests in order of their official rank,
so that the junior (in this case, Sidonius himself) re-
clined next to the host.^ The poem of IX. xiii enters
with some detail into the luxurious accessories of
a Roman banquet in the capital of the province. The
couches are draped with hangings of purple silk, or with
figured silk textiles bearing representations of mounted
huntsmen in Sassanian style,^ which proves the im-
portation of oriental stuffs into the West as early as the
mid-fifth century (see note, 203. I, pp. 251-2). There
are flowers on the sideboards and even on the couches.
Burning frankincense rolls its perfume to the roof; the

* For Roman dining arrangements, see Marquardt, Privai-
leben, pp. 302 ff.

2 Or at any rate with subjects familiar on Sassanian textiles
of the sixth to eighth centuries. Similar motives, however,
were favoured in other places in the Near East, among others
probably in Alexandria (O. von Falke, Kunstgeschichte der
Seidentextilien ; Berlin , 1 9 1 3 ) .

g 2

^■^

c Introduction

lamps, knowing nothing of common oil {oleum nescientes)^
are fed with scented opobalsamum. When the feast
begins the servants appear, bowed under the weight of the
chased silver plate.-^ Wine gleams in rose-wreathed
cups and bowls of various form, and is spiced with
nard. When the meal is done, some of the guests are
stimulated to the imitation of Bacchantes, and dance
among garlands that hang from the unguent-vases.^
But the chief entertainment comes with the introduction
of Corinthian girls, who sing to the accompaniment of
the cithara, and of other flute-players and singers. It
is a scene of lavish extravagance. The midday meal
of a senatorial family in every-day life is described as
consisting of dishes few in number but varied in con-
tents ; the evening meals seem to have been more
elaborate (II. ix. 6, lo). A high standard of comfort
and a good cuisine were evidently the rule. Introduc-
ing to Simplicius a person unused to the manners of
society (IV. vii), Sidonius pictures the man's astonish-
ment when invited, as the acquaintance of so old a friend

^ Silver plate, as we should expect from a wealthy Roman
writer, is often mentioned. Theodoric's was unostentatious
(I. ii) ; but there were families who thought more of their
old plate than of being useful in the world (VIII. vii. i). A
silver cup with fluted sides, like a shell, is considered an
appropriate gift for Ragnahild, queen of Euric (IV. viii. 4, 5).
Sidonius is silent as to his own plate ; to Gregory of Tours
we owe the story- that in the time of greatest distress at
Clermont the bishop disposed of his silver to relieve the
poor (see p. cxlviii).

2 luvat et vago rotatu \ darefracta membra ludo, \ swiulare
vel trementes \ pede. veste voce Bacchus : lines 64-7 of the
poem. It is here implied that even the costume of the
Bacchante was assumed.

Li

Ui\r\i vi

Introduction ci

as himself, to sit at the family table : ' it will abash
this rustic to be entertained with an elegance which will
make him think himself among the delicate guests of
Apicius, and served by the *' rhythmic carvers of Byzan-
tium "/ ^ The one indispensable article of furniture,
not necessarily placed in the dining-room, which
receives special mention is the water-clock or clepsydra ; ^
even here, however, it is in one case brought in as
having announced to the chef the hour for lunch. Of
bedrooms nothing is said : one passage rather leads us
to suppose that sleeping accommodation was less ex-
tensive than we should have expected (II. ix. 7).

Such artistic references as occur seem to show that
Sidonius, though fond of all refinement, was not a con-
noisseur.^ It may perhaps be surmised that provincial
art in Gaul in the second and third quarters of the

t The reference probably is to carvers who officiated with
a studied style and flourish, as if they worked to music (see
note, 15. I, p. 230).

2 II. ix. 6, xiii. 4. For the clepsydra^ see note, 51. 2,
p. 224.

' His visits to Rome inspire him with no desire to dwell
upon the artistic treasures of the capital. He dismisses the
frescoes in his baths with the remark that there was nothing
in them to offend modesty. K. Purgold has shown that most
of the descriptions in his poems which seem to suggest obser-
vations of works of art are really borrowed from Claudian
and other Roman poets {Clatidianus und Sidonms, 1878).
Some of these are elaborate, but in no case does the poet
speak with enthusiasm or evident personal comprehension.
In Carm. xxii he enumerates frescoes and pictures in the
house of Pontius Leontius rather in the style of an abstract
inventory, and without any critical appreciation : the chief
subjects were : Mithridates sacrificing his horses to Neptune ;

Cll

Introduction

fifth century resembled the literature of the same period,
and that its work was uninspired and imitative, coldly
reproducing at second-hand traditional classical models.
It probably did not share the great prestige accorded
to literature ; though Sidonius mentions a score of con-
temporary orators and poets, artists are to seek in his
pages. The wealthy Gallo-Romans may have chiefly
concentrated their enthusiasm upon Letters, and
have regarded art as a secondary matter. Such com-
parative indifference could only have hastened the down-
fall of the academic Roman style before the invading
oriental motives which now entered Gaul in increasing
numbers, and were naturally more congenial to barbaric
taste. Of sculpture we learn even less than painting.
The author gives no description of his own statue
erected at Rome after the delivery of his Panegyric of
Avitus, nor does he allude to the sculptor. His men-
tion of stereotyped attitudes when enumerating the

an episode from the siege of Cyzicus ; the infant Hercules
strangling the serpents; and (an interesting point) episodes
from Jewish history. In the epithalamium of Polemius and
Araneola {^Carm. xv. i59ff.) a number of classical episodes
are woven by Araneola on a toga palmata for her father,
themes perhaps derived from familiar pictures.

Sidonius refers more than once to encaustic painting (VII.
xiv. 5 ; and Panegyric of Majorian, 1. 590). The description
of the mosaics in the church of Patiens is difficult (see notes,
54. I, 55. I, pp. 225-6). But whatever the exact translation
of the author's words may be, it seems certain that no figure-
subjects were depicted, but only ornamental or conventional
designs, in which the colours of blue and green pre-
ponderated. As Hodgkin has observed, their parallels may
perhaps be sought in some of the purely decorative designs
in the mosaics of churches at Ravenna.

Introduction ciii

principal philosophers of antiquity (IX. ix. 14) suggests
that he had well-known sculptural types in his mind,
but he does not himself assert it. On the subject of
architecture Sidonius does not seem to write with
understanding. The account of the villa of Avitacum
is not that of an expert ; and his descriptions of two
churches, that erected by Patiens at Lyons (II. x)
and that by Perpetuus at Tours (IV. xviii. 4) are
rather slight : we do, however, gather that the first was
an orientated basilica, preceded by an atrium, and with
a coffered ceiling in the interior,^ though there is no
clear statement as to the number of aisles or the form
of the hema. The second, which replaced the older
building erected by St. Brice over the shrine of St. Martin,
seems to have presented most exceptional features ; it
may have introduced into Gaul a type of choir which
was destined to influence the whole course of Roman-
esque and even Gothic building (see note, 33. i , p. 231).
Yet nothing that Sidonius says would lead us to infer
that the church of Perpetuus was an epoch-making

^ Sidonius says that the sunlight was reflected from the
gilded roof, which, at a period when gold backgrounds were
not yet employed in mosaic, certainly implies the ceiling of
painted and gilded wood usual in early basilicas. It may
be noted, however, that he speaks of mosaics covering the
ca77iei'a, a word which implies vaulting, but is probably here
applied to the <f(7«<:/z« of the apse (cf. note, 54. i,p. 226, below).
Sir T. G. Jackson, Byzantine and Roinanesque Architecture
(Cambridge, 1913), ii. 31, also regards the church as ceiled.
He draws attention once more, as VioUet-le-Duc in an earlier
generation, to the poverty of our information on the churches
built in Gaul before the tenth century. Neither Sidonius nor
any other writer gives us a tithe of the facts which they
might so easily have presented.

civ Introduction

structure ; we infer it only from the later description by
Gregory of Tours.^ In connexion with the churches
mentioned by Sidonius, we must not forget the metrical
inscriptions which he and his rival poets composed at
the bishop's request to be engraved upon the walls.
These are of such a length that they were probably cut
in rather small characters upon panels or executed in
mosaic. In the case of Patiens' church, the verses of
Constantius and Secundinus were to be placed to right
and left of the altar, those of Sidonius himself perhaps
opposite on the west wall, though the words he uses
are not clear {in extimh).^ Monastic buildings are not
described by our author. Yet, as we have already seen,
he had a personal knowledge of Lerins, and any details
of its architectural features, plan, and internal arrange-
ments would have been of the highest interest. He
could have described to us, too, the process by which
the simple cell of the Syrian monk Abraham near
Clermont developed into the monastery of St. Cirgues,
for at the time of Abraham's death the community
was evidently of some size (VII. xvii. 3, 4).^ Alto-
gether, we could wish that Sidonius shared the archi-

^ JIlsL Franc, II. xiv. In IV. xx Gregory mentions its
destruction by fire. He himself restored it ; and as he must
have been familiar with its details, should be regarded as
a competent witness.

2 This was a position where inscriptions are known to
have been placed (H. Holtzinger, Die altchristliche Archi-
tektur, &c., p. 184).

^ The monastery must have been of the eremitic type, like
those of St. Martin at Marmoutier and Tours, and based on
oriental prototypes (cp. p. Ixxix above). The church was
completed by Abraham {Pet its DoUandistes^ vii. 59, 60).

Introduction cv

tectural interest of one of his friends, who was fond of
reading Vitruvius (VIII. vi. lo). Perhaps, however,
he would only have reiterated his preference for the
traditional in all things, and, like the accepted oracles
of the eighteenth century, to whom Gothic architecture
was all contemptible, have regarded all divergences from
Vitruvian precept as wholly beneath his notice. His
indifference to the really important features of Perpetuus'
church lends some colour to the supposition. In relation
to the art of music, our author again reveals no personal
enthusiasm. His references to secular music usually
concern the performances enlivening banquets, which
then, as now, were intended rather to distract than
to inspire. But we are told that Theodoric II only
cared for serious strains at table, and that he dispensed
alike with the hydraulic organs ^ and with vocalists —
the negative statement here suggesting that in other
houses neither was disdained (cf. above, p. Ixiv). Per-
haps at no period of his life was Sidonius a patron of
musicians.^ Church music receives just enough atten-
tion to tantalize the reader. Among the merits of the
accomplished priest-philosopher Claudianus Mamertus,
Sidonius records his zeal in training the choir for his
brother the Bishop of Vienne;^ again, in connexion

1 For these, cf. note, 6. i, p. 216.

^ He liked the music of birds, to which he refers more than
once. He also mentions without resentment the piping of the
local 'Tityri', heard on the hills near Avitacum.

^ IV. xi, lines 13-15 Psahnortiui hie modulator et phonascus \
Ante altaria fratre gratulante \ Instructas doctiit '^ sonar e
classes. St. Amabilis of Auvergne was in early Jife cantor
in the church of St. Mary at Clermont (Chaix, ii. 66).

cvi Introduction

with the celebration of the festival of St. Just at Lyons,
we hear of antiphonal singing (V. xvii. 3). There is
no definite allusion to the use of musical instruments in
churches.

In the matter of costume, we learn more of barbarian
than of Roman dress, and more of the garb of laymen
than of clerics. It may be taken for granted that the
tunic remained the usual garment for the house among
the Gallo- Romans ; sometimes the girdle or belt which
held it round the waist offered scope for ornament of
a particular fashion (IV. ix. 2).^ Over the tunic were
probably worn the mantles most commonly in use in
late-Roman times — the pallium^ of Greek origin,^ and
t\iQ paenula (a kind of poncho) for bad weather. The
toga was now a ceremonial garment, of which the most
sumptuous form was the toga palmata^ or embroidered
robe worn by the Consul.^ Sandals or boots are only

1 Summus nitor in vestibiiSy cultus in cingulis^ splendor
in phaleris. The lively sexagenarian Germanicus is said to
have accentuated his youthful appearance by wearing * tight
clothes' (IV. xiii. i). This may refer only to the tunic; but
it is conceivable that the influence of Teutonic or Celtic
fashions may have made itself felt, and that some garment
for the leg may be indicated ; or did he wear a buttoned
garment ? Cf. Fertig, i. 24.

2 The pallium was first distinctive of philosophers, who
continued to wear it after it came into general use, differentia-
ting themselves from the unlearned by carrying a staff and
wearing the hair and beard long. From IV. xi. i we infer
that this costume was still affected by philosophers in Gaul
in the middle of the fifth century.

^ Cf. VIII. vi. 6 ; and Carm, xv. 145 ff., where Araneola
embroidered a toga palmata for her father; for this garment,
cf. Marquardt, Privatleben^ p. 549. It has been noticed

Introduction cvii

mentioned in relation to a symbolic figure of a Muse ;
the description of the method of lacing is not easy of
comprehension (VIII. xi., 11. 12 ff. of the poem). It
is just possible that there is an allusion to a pro-
fessional dress in the letter which Sidonius sends to
Domitius, the grammarian of Ameria, inviting him to
the cool retreat of Avitacum in a very hot summer,
Domitius is depicted as expounding Terence to his
pupils wrapped in a thick cloak, while others were per-
spiring in thin linen or silk ; it may be, however, that
Domitius was extremely sensitive to draughts, for even
under the thick cloak he is said to be swathed round
and round, a fashion which would be no necessary
accompaniment of a master's gown.^ Armour is men-
tioned in the letter which recounts the prowess of
Ecdicius in breaking through the Gothic lines round
Clermont. The hero is described as wearing greaves,
a cuirass, and a helmet with cheek-pieces (III. iii. 5),
the whole equipment following the Roman model. The
most careful description of barbarian costume con-
cerns not the Visigoths or Burgundians, with whom
Sidonius was in frequent contact, but in all likelihood
the Franks, with whom he had had probably no regular
relations. It has been already noticed (p. xciii) that the
weapons borne by the guards of the young Sigismer,
whom Sidonius saw at Lyons, are characteristic of that
nation (note, 35. i, p. 233). The prince himself wears
a flame-red mantle over a white silk tunic, and a wealth of

above that, even in earlier times, the cumbrous toga was
discarded as soon as possible.

^ II. ii. 2 Endromidaltis exterius^ inirinsecus fasccalus.

cviii Ifitroduction

gold ornaments.^ His companions wear high, close-fitting,
short-sleeved, parti-coloured (?) tunics scarcely reaching
to their bare knees, and low boots of hide with the hair
adhering ; their legs are left uncovered. Each has a
green cloak [sagum) with a purple border, and apparently
a skin mantle over all, brooched on the right shoulder
to leave the sword-arm free. The sword is worn on
a baldric ; the other weapons are barbed lances and
missile axes (^lancet uncati^ secures missiles^. Circular
shields enriched on the field with silver, and on the
umbo with gold, complete the equipment of the brilliant
train. In general it recalls the Frankish warrior as
he is depicted in Carolingian illuminated manuscripts
of the ninth and tenth centuries; though at this later date

1 IV. XX. I. The Teutonic princes and nobles became
very fond of wearing silk in later times ; but the mention of
it here is interesting from the comparatively early date
(perhaps A. D. 470) at w^hich the letter was written. Cf.
what has been said above of the silk textiles of oriental
style used by contemporary Gallo-Romans. The excavation
of Frankish graves has abundantly illustrated the fondness of
the Franks for gold ornaments, a taste which was shared by
all the Teutonic peoples, notably the Goths. The whole
passage is so important for the student of early Teutonic
archaeology that it is worth while to give the original words :
pedes primi perone saetoso talos adusqtie vinciebantur ; genua
crwa sziraeqne sine tegmine ; praeter hoc vestis alia stricta
versicolor^ vix appropinqiians poplitibiis exertis ; vianicae
sola brachiorum priiicipia celantes ; viridantia saga limhis
margiiiata puniceis ; penduli ex huinero gladii balteis super-
currentibus strinxerant clausa bullatis latera rhenonibus, . . .
For Visigothic and Burgundian weapons and personal orna-
ments, see Barriere Flavy, Les arts industriels des peuples
barbares de la Gaule^ vol. i ; Feuvrier et Fevret, Les cimetieres
bourgondes de Chaussin et de IVriandCy 1902.

Introduction cix

the legs are commonly protected by tight bandages.
The skin garment is the great characteristic of the
barbarian in the Roman's eyes ; the adjective peUltus
is used almost as a synonym for barbarian.^

Especial importance was attached by the different
tribes to the manner in which the hair was cut. Theo-
doric's hair is withdrawn from the forehead and long
over the ears (I. ii. 2).^ The Saxons have the whole
fore-part of the skull shorn, a fashion which at a distance
seems to increase the length of the face and reduce that
of the head (VIII. ix, 11. 23-7 of the poem). The
Sigambrian normally wears his hair long at the back ;
the old warrior of this tribe, whom Sidonius sees at
Bordeaux, has had his long locks cut off, and will
not feel a true man until they have grown again (ibid.
1. 28).

Of clerical vestments, unfortunately, nothing is said ;
at this early period, differentiation between clerical and
lay garb may not have gone very far ; but it had begun,
and even a few words would have had their importance.
Monks are described as wearing the palliolum^ which

^ Cf. above, p. xxxiii, also 1. ii. The Greeks had a similar
notion that the use of furs was a barbaric habit.

^ The Gothic princes do not seem to have allowed their
hair to grow so long as to fall on their shoulders as the
Merovingians did (Lindenschmit, Handbucli der deutschen
Altertttviskunde^ i. 330). The Gallo-Roman Germanicus
had his hair cut ^ wheel-fashion ', whatever that may mean
(IV. xiii. I crinis in rotae speci??ien accisus) : perhaps the
effect was similar to that of the male coiffure on late Roman
diptychs and on tombs of the fifteenth century, as exemplified
by the monuments of English knights whose hair is cut across
the forehead, as if a basin had been used by the barber.

ex Introduction

would seem to indicate that the monastic dress at first
resembled that of the philosopher (IV. ix. 3). The
cowl was apparently at this time an independent
covering for the head, as Sidonius sends a thick one
as a present to the abbot Chariobaudus (nocturnalem
cucullum^ VIL xvi. 2).^ The tonsure is described by
the usual word corona^ which is ultimately transferred
to the tonsured : corona tua is used very much as we
should say 'your reverence'.

The allusions to sport and games are fairly numerous.
In the chase the bow is the principal weapon (I. ii),
but for encountering the boar and other beasts the
spear comes into play, the game being driven into nets
(VIII. vi. 12). Namatius is bantered on the over-
merciful temperament of the hounds with which he
pursues the hares of Oleron (ibid.).^ The hawk is
more than once mentioned as an essential possession
of the young country gentleman with sporting tastes
(III. iii. 2). In one place we hear of a fishing ex-
pedition to which Agricola, his brother-in-law, invites
Sidonius (II. xii. l)."^ Racing in small boats took

1 The hood is said by Cassian to have been adopted in
imitation of children's dress, to suggest innocence and
simplicity {^Inst. Coen. I, ch. iii).

2 The none too serious sportmanship of Namatius may
perhaps be compared to that of the younger Pliny, who sat
by the net armed, not with a boar-spear, but with his tablets,
and recommended Tacitus to do the same, providing himself
in addition with a luncheon-basket and a bottle of wine (Ep.
I. vi).

3 The peasants set night-lines in the lake at Avitacum,
where fish were plentiful and of good quality (II. ii. 12) ; in
other places Sidonius alludes to streams containing good fish.
Beyond the fact that Euric had ships on the Atlantic to protect

Introduction cxi

place in former times on the lake below Avitacum, in
recollection of Aeneas' regatta at Drepanum, the people
of Auvergne claiming a Trojan descent (11. ii. 19).
Large comfortable river-boats manned by rowers ply
on the Garonne (VIII. xii. 5).^

References to games are of much interest, but
unfortunately they are seldom precise, and where they
seem to give detail, only confuse by uncoordinated facts.
A board-game of some kind resembling backgammon,
possibly that known as duodecim script a^^ is indicated
in the difficult passage in I. ii, where Theodoric is
described at play. Dice-boxes are frequently mentioned,
and one would assume that games of hazard were a little
too popular with the aristocracy of Gaul.^ Outdoor
games with balls were evidently pursued with ardour,

his shores from the attack of the swift myoparones of the
Saxons (VIII. vi. 13), we learn nothing of naval matters:
Sidonius enters into no particulars as to the style of the ships
or the tactics pursued. His reference in the Poems to the
Vandal raiders has been already noticed (p. xci above).

^ On the Ticino and Po in Italy there was a service of
* packet ' boats ixursoriae) (I. v. 3). Such services were kept
up in Italy under Theodoric the Great. Cf. Cassiodorus,
Variae, II. xxi, IV. xv, where the crews {dromonarit) are in
question.

2 In this there was a board {tabula) used both with dice
and men, as appears to have been the case with Theo-
doric's game (see note, 5. i, p. 216). A tabtday with 'men ' of
two colours, is again mentioned as one of the attractions on
the river-boat in which the luxurious Trygetius is to travel
(VIII. xii. 5).

^ ^y^gi (V. xvi. 6) ; fritilli (II. ix. 4). But in the second
of these passages tesserae are mentioned as well as the dice-
boxes ; and in the first there is also a tabula^ so that perhaps in
neither case have we to do with mere hazard. Cf. I ; V. xvii.

cxli Introduction

and SIdonius, similar in this to Augustine, admits
himself a devotee (V. xvii. 6). But here again it is
difficult to form an idea of the rules. There is no
mention of any apparatus beyond the ball itself, so that
to translate by 'tennis' is misleading to a modern reader:
the players seem simply to have required an open space
in a courtyard or on the grass, with perhaps lines
marked upon the ground. Sometimes two players were
enough, as when Sidonius and Ecdicius play in the
meadow by the lake (II. ii. 15)-^; at others there are
opposing pairs (II. ix. 4) ; in one place we read of
whole 'sides', when at the festival at Lyons the
elderly Filimatius is knocked down (V. xvii. 7). The
reference to collisions shows that the game was
fast.2 The great games of the Circus were still held in
Gaul in the second half of the fifth century, but possibly
not after Majorian's time.^

Turning to the apparatus of more serious pursuits,
we find various references to writing materials. Letters
and manuscripts were written upon parchment or paper ;
the words membrana^ papyrus ^ and charta are all employed,
the two latter being synonymous.^ But tablets {codicilli,
pugillares) and a stylus were used for the first notes or

^ There were regular grounds, sphaeristeria, at all con-
siderable villas. Pliny had them at both his principal country-
houses {Ep. II. xvii ; V. vi).

2 It may have been the harpastum (dpnaaTov), See note
73. 2, p. 239.

^ Majorian held them at Aries (I. xi. 10). Cf. Carm.
xxiii. 268.

* Papyrus was the common material for letters ; it was not
adapted for use on both sides, as parchment was (cf. Mar-
qud-idtj Prwa^/eden, pp. 807 ff.).

Introduction cxiii

rough drafts (e. g. IV. xii. 4, and cf. Cicero, Ad
fam, IX. xxvi). Literary people were sometimes
accompanied by a secretary, who kept the tablets always
ready for their use, or himself wrote from their dicta-
tion, as did the secretary of Filimatius on the famous
occasion when Sidonius composed his epigram upon the
towel (V. xvii. x).^ From IX. xvi it would appear
that ink was allowed to dry, and that the process was
not accelerated by the use of sand, or by any other
substitute for blotting-paper. In the same passage
there is a reference to ink freezing on the pens in very
cold weather.^

A few miscellaneous facts may be noted which bear
upon contemporary custom and observance. From
I. V. 10 we gather that the old Thalassio still held its
own in 468, the year of the wedding of Ricimer and
Alypia, and that the crown was still worn by the bride-
groom at the ceremony. For all that is said to the
contrary, it might have been a pagan marriage of

^ Possibly shorthand was used on such occasions. Shorthand
was certainly employed by copyists of manuscripts ; and in
the episode of Sidonius' chase after the mysterious book by
Lupus, which Riochatus had concealed from him, shorthand
writers were used to make excerpts on the spot (IX. ix. 8
Tribnit et qiiodda??i dictare celeranti scribarttin sequacitas
saltuosa compendhtm^ qui comprehendebant signis quod litteris
nontenebanf): Exceptores were of great service in the Church,
and Ennodius in his life of Epiphanius relates that the Bishop
of Pavia in his youth was an expert in tachygraphy. For the
class of civil servants named exceptores see Hodgkin, The
Letters of C a ssiodo7'us, p. no.

2 Mme de Sevign^ records the same thing as occurring
at Grignan in Provence during her visit to her daughter, the
Comtesse de Grignan.

546.22 I h

cxiv Introduction

Catullus' day, whereas both the contracting parties
were Christians.

An interesting point is raised with regard to the
disposal of the dead. The spade of the excavator
seems to show that in the Roman provinces cremation
went out of fashion about the year a.d. 250. We should
infer the opposite from those passages in Sidonius,
where the machinery of cremation is mentioned as if it
were still in use, or had been so within living memory
(III. iii. 13; III. xiii ; Carm, xvi. 123). Perhaps
we may hazard the conjecture that a few aristocratic
families preserved an old custom after it had been
abandoned by the mass of the people, just as, in more
ancient times, they had maintained burial when incinera-
tion was first introduced. The evidence of Sidonius
with regard to epitaphs also deserves notice. Those
which he himself composed are of inordinate length,
and imply monuments with abundance of plane surface.^
That they are not merely literary exercises, but really
meant to be used, is shown by his desire that the work
of the monumental mason who was to cut the epitaph
on the tomb of the prefect Apollinaris should be

1 It would seem from III. xii. 5 that the tomb of Apolli-
naris was to be a flat slab, and therefore unlike the large
structural tombs erected by the earlier Romans, and perhaps
exemplified in Lyons by the Conditorium of Syagrius, men-
tioned in V. xvii. 4. This Conditorium was perhaps one of
the monuments lining the high road, which ran close to the
church ; but the grave of Sidonius' ancestor would appear to
have been in a crowded cemetery. It is a rather curious
fact that Sidonius and his father should have allowed the
remains of the elder Apollinaris to lie unmarked until the
traces of the mound above it were almost obliterated.

Introduction cxv

carefully checked, for fear that any error committed
might be imputed to the writer and not to the artisan.
Altogether, the epitaphs are of most formidable length,
eclipsing in this respect those of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, or the longer effusions of our
country churchyards.

The imperial road system was still apparently main-
tained on a satisfactory footing in the year 467, when
Sidonius travelled from Lyons to Rome, and, as bearer
of an imperial summons, was entitled to the free use of
post-horses. The mamiones^ or rest-houses, and the
veredarii^ or mounted letter-carriers, are mentioned in
different Letters (IIL ii. 3 ; V. vii. 3).^ In more than
one place Sidonius alludes to inns which were patronized
by nobles when no better accommodation was to be had,
but they seem to have been of indifferent quality.^

The above are but examples of a much larger number
of points which the archaeologist may discover in the
Letters. But even these will sufhce to show that
the study of Sidonius is not altogether unprofitable to
archaeological research.

The preceding pages have sketched in outline the

^ From the phrase used in III. ii, angnstiae mansionunii
we may infer that the accommodation was not luxurious. In
Italy, as we should expect from the continuance of the river
service, the Cursus puhlicus was maintained under the Ostro-
goths as the references in the Variae of Cassiodorus show
(e.g. I. xxix; IV. xlvii).

2 e.g. VIII. xi, lines 41 ff. of the poem :

Ne, si destituor domo negata,
Maerens ad madidas earn taber7tas,
Et claudens geminas subinde nares
Propter fumificas gema?fi culinas^ 8cc,, &c.
h 2

cxvi Introduction

life of SIdonius and the surroundings in which it was
passed. But the conditions under which he grew to
manhood will be imperfectly understood unless some-
thing is said of the system under which the young
Gallo- Roman was prepared for his career. For the
education which the boy Sidonius received, the typical
education of his class and time, exerted a lasting in-
fluence upon the man. It coloured his whole outlook
upon the world, not always to his advantage, since his
very loyalty to academic ideals obscured those natural
powers of observation which he certainly possessed.
It controlled his literary prospects, determined his
interests, and created the astonishing style which
seemed to him worth so many vigils, but to us is
like a faded finery, hampering the free movement of
his thought. Some idea of the intellectual training
which produced such strange results is thus essential
to our purpose.

The education of the young Gallo-Roman in the
fifth century differed but little from that which his
father and grandfather had received.^ The whole train-
ing was rooted in traditions no longer vital ; it was
essentially bookish, uninterested in facts, almost exclu-
sively absorbed in words. Before all other things it
set Grammar and Rhetoric ; in many schools these two
subjects represented almost the whole curriculum. Law
had of course to be learned by candidates for the bar ;

^ On education in the fifth century, see Dill, pp. 338 ff.
The principal academic centres in Gaul were now Bordeaux,
Toulouse, Narbonne, Aries, Lyons, Clermont (Arverni), and
Vienne. The first had been the most important, prior to the
Visigothic occupation.

/// trodti ction ex vii

philosophy was studied perhaps more as an accomplish-
ment and a discipline of the mind, than for the problems
with which it was properly concerned ; ^ there was
some musical instruction, perhaps more of a theoretical
than of a practical nature. But for most youths educa-
tion meant a proficiency in the Latin classics, a know-
ledge of the structure of the Latin language, and of the
art of speaking before an audience upon a given subject.
The interest was directed not to the synthesis of life,
but the antithesis of clauses. Science, as we under-
stand the term, was practically unknown ; the mathe-
matics, the geography, the astronomy of the schools
had as much relation to mythology as to fact. The
interesting letter on the death of the rhetor Lampridius
shows that even on the most brilliant products of the
late Roman schools, astrologers^ could still exert
their baneful influence (VIIL xi. 9). Perhaps the
decline in the study of Greek prejudicially affected the
power and inclination to observe or think naturally.
That language was still taught in Gaul ; Sidonius
noted the fluency of Lampridius in both Greek and

^ As already observed, the most original work in philosophy
was done by ecclesiastics like Claudianus Mamertus and
Faustus. Sidonius had perhaps more than a smattering of
philosophy. Several passages indicate his general informa-
tion, and one of his letters (VII. xiv) contains long passages
in the sententious style of Seneca. In certain Gallic circles
there was an interest in Platonism {Collegium Conplatoni-
coruniy IV. xi. i), and there were real enthusiasts for abstract
thought, but the spirit which governed much philosophizing
of the day was evidently that of Martianus Capella.

^ Cf. Cassiodorus, Variae, IV. xxii, xxiii, where Theodoric
orders the trial of two Romans of rank, Basilius and Prae-
textatus, for practising magical arts.

cxviii Introduction

Latin ; ^ and at Narbonne there were men of culture
who appreciated Greek poetry.^ But the Theodosian
Code shows that the Latin grammarians received higher
salaries than the Greek, enjoyed a higher position, and
probably instructed larger classes."^ Their lectures con-
sisted for the most part in commentaries on classical
authors, chiefly the Roman poets. Style was analysed ;
the vocabulary of each writer examined ; metaphors
and expressions were carefully discussed. Points of
etymology and antiquarian knowledge were raised, and
pursued along the by-paths of erudition; it was a golden
age for commentators. Not all, however, was learned
trifling. Some of the criticism upon Virgil and Homer
was acute and penetrating, as, for example, the fifth
book of the Saturnalia of Macrobius.

The great text-book in the schools of the fourth and
fifth century was Virgil. To Sidonius, as to Augustine,
he is the prince of poets.* Terence was evidently
popular in Gaul ; the Letters allude to his characters,
and in the passage on the home-education of Apollinaris,
Sidonius reads the Hecyra with his son, uncertain which
delights him most, the fine style of the author, or the
youthful grace and ardour of the boy. The influence
of Horace is also evident in our author ; he is second
to Virgil among the poets.^ The opulent and elaborated

^ IX. xiii. If Sidonius translated Philostratus, and did not
merely transcribe him, he must himself have been an adequate
Greek scholar.

2 Carfii. xxiii. loo ff.

3 Cf. IX. xxi, and Dill, p. 347.
* V. xiii.

^ Horace, like Cicero, v^as * caned into ' Sidonius and his
schoolmates at Lyons (IV. ij V. iv).

Introduction cxix

style of Statius naturally commended him to such a society
as that of fifth-century Gaul ; he had been popular with
Ausonius ; and his influence on Sidonius as poet is un-
deniable,^ It is the same with Claudian ; the Panegyrics
which charmed the ears of an Avitus or an Anthemius
owe him much, but the splendour of the original is gone.
Among prose-writers, not Cicero,^ but the younger Pliny
was the favourite. In the introductory Letter of the fifth
book, Sidonius acknowledges him as his master ; and in
a later book again refers to this professed allegiance.^
Pliny, the agreeable letter-writer, was the inevitable
model of a society in which correspondence with
friends was a main interest of existence : no less in-
evitable was the reproduction of his mannerisms rather
than his excellences by purely imitative writers. In his
introductory epistle to Constantius, Sidonius quotes as
a warning the nickname given to Julius Titianus for his
sedulous efforts to reproduce the style of Cicero : he
was called ' the ape of orators ' {oratorum simia). Yet
he and his own contemporaries fell into the same error ;
they were apes of the second great Roman letter-writer,
caricaturing their master by accentuating all his faults.
Features of Sallust's style were distorted by them in
the same manner.^

^ R. Bitschofsky, De C, Sollii Apollinaris Sidonii studiis
Statianis.

2 Cicero seems to have been regarded as hopelessly beyond
imitation. This appears to be the real sense of the remark in
I. i, which irritated Petrarch (see note, i. i, p. 215).

^ I. i ; IV. xxii. In IX. i. i Sidonius states that Firminus
has called him a second Pliny.

* A list of the quotations from Latin authors in Sidonius,
or obvious loans from them, is given by Mommsen, Monu-

cxx Introduction

Grammatical criticism of the classics was followed
by specialized study of the great orators, with a view to
proficiency in public speaking : this was the course of
Rhetoric. The rhetor was a more important person in
society than the grammarian. But, as noted above,
he professed an art which, except in the Church, had
little prospect of great or serious audiences ; it was
divorced from real life ; it was the accomplishment
of the speech-room.^ The training was still, no doubt,
a good one ; rhythm, prosody, voice-production, division
of the subject, were all thoroughly taught, and proved
their value when there was a worthy occasion for their
use. But most opportunities were hardly worth the
taking ; the speaker eulogized the great dead or the
Epigoni of the present ; he took part in academic
displays or competitions before small circles, in which
ancient or unreal issues were treated in the style of the
class-room declamation.^ An unbounded respect for
certain models, a good memory with an endless stock of
figures, metaphors and mythological examples always at
command — these, and not the power to read hearts and

menta Germaniae Historica {Auctores Antiquissimi)^ viii,

pp. 352 ff.

^ Cf. above, p. Ixxvi. The address of Sidonius at Bourges
(VII. ix. 5) shows what skilful rhetoric could still accom-
plish.

2 The oration of the young Burgundio on Julius Caesar is
a case in point (IX. xiv). Sidonius promises to attend with
a claque of applauding supporters (IX. xiv). This at least
was a sensible subject : those of ' school declamations '
were often far-fetched or absurd (cf. Dill, p. 370). On the
Dedajuatio^ cf. Nettleship, Lectures and Essays, 2nd series,
112, 113.

Introduction cxxi

sway them to a genuine emotion, were the essentials
of oratorical success. These were the qualities which
carried Ausonius, the rhetor of Bordeaux, to the highest
office in the State.^ The enthusiasm for letters which
such promotion implies is laudable in itself; but in the
time of Roman decadence the reward fell to an artifice
which sterilized instead of fertilizing the mind, and
drove hearts capable of valiant action into channels
of sentimental retrospect. The fine flower of all this
education was the panegyric, and it was an artificial
flower.

It has been already noted that the Church was
beginning a new education of her own (p. Ixxvi), and
that in some cases boys were placed under a religious
teacher, as Sidonius' own brother studied under Faustus
at Lerins. But as a rule, sacred learning would seem
to have been neglected in the schools attended by
wealthy pupils.^ Some of the great families were
probably still pagan : others appear to have shown
little zeal for the reHgion which they nominally pro-
fessed ; the old mythology dominated literary culture.
Perhaps Sidonius was never really grounded in the
study of the Scriptures till after his consecration. Only
after that event do his letters show a familiarity with

* Ausonius taught Gratian rhetoric, and the emperor made
splendid provision not only for him, but for all his relations.
Gaul had a special reputation for rhetoric ; the blending of
the Latin and Celtic strains appears to have been favourable
to the art.

2 In the passage relating to education in the Panegyric on
Anthemius {Carni. i. 156 ff.) there is no mention of the Bible
or of Christian works.

cxxii Introduction

Holy Writ; examples and illustrations derived both
from the Old and New Testament then accompany
or displace the mythological figures dear to his earlier
years. By the side of Triptolemus, we hear of Joseph.^
Moses, Aaron, and Solomon, Joshua, the Gibeonites,
and the people of Nineveh are introduced in illustration.^
The Church is the spiritual Sara ; ^ Philosophy is the
fair woman captured from the enemy and espoused
by the captor ; ^ the story of Peter and Simon Magus
points its obvious moral. ^"^ St. Luke is quoted as
a believer in the advantage of long descent.^

In no capacity did this scholastic education so harm
Sidonius as in that which it was designed to advance —
his quality as man of letters. He was too good a pupil
of his peculiar masters to be anything but a bad writer.
The curse of the rhetorical tradition clung to him
like a chronic disease; it destroyed the originality of
a genius never too spontaneous. In an age when it
was improper for a literary man to be himself, he
thought too faithfully of the proprieties. His age was
just to him ; he had the reward of his obedience. The
society whose conventions he defended saw in him the
mirror of contemporary writers ; ^ in his heart, he him-

1 VI. xii.

2 VI. i. 6 ; VII. i. 3 ; VIII. xiv. 3 ; IX. viii. 2. A single letter
has allusions to Lazarus, Pharaoh, Babylon, and Assur. All
this is in complete contrast with the old indulgence in mytho-
logical allusion ; it is the language of another world.

8 VIII. xiii. 4. •* IX. ix. 12.

6 VII. ix.

^ Ibid. St. Luke is also quoted in VI. i. 2.
'^ Claudianus Mamertus, Preface to the De Statu Animae ;
Gennadius, De Script, EccL c. 92.

Introduction cxxiii

self was sure that the vote of posterity was won.^
Though, soon after his death, a Ruricius might whisper
a doubt, it was long before the general verdict turned
against him. The Middle Ages approved ; and even
after Petrarch's misgivings, the voice of admiration con-
tinued to be heard. But the Renaissance grew critical,
the eighteenth century dared to attack. ^ If the value
of Sidonius really lay in his style and diction, as he
himself believed, then his credit would indeed be dead
beyond resuscitation. Hardly any Latin author has re-
ceived so short a shrift at the hands of modern criticism
as this professed champion of the Roman tongue. When
good Latinity was once more understood, our author's
pedestal became a pillory ; and the works of every
writer upon style, from Horace to Boileau, provided
missiles wherewith to pelt him. Gibbon, preferring his
prose to his ' insipid verses ', pays it a back-handed compli-
ment after his manner. Even those who uphold particular
merits are forced to draw upon the arsenal of epithets
forged against the affected and the turgid writer. The
most recent critics are the most severe of all. Hodgkin
says that Sidonius has achieved nothing beyond a fifth-rate
position as a post-classical author; Dill sees in him one of
the most tasteless writers who ever lived. In the matter
of depreciation the last word has been spoken ; nothing
fresh can now be said. The Latin style of Sidonius is
condemned as finally as the French style of Voiture.^

^ Yet he credits himself v^'ith facility rather than talent :
Scribendi ?nagis est facilitas quam faculias (III. vii).

2 Casaubon said : Sidonius . . . in re Latinitatis improhus
intestabilisque (cf, Germain, p. 114).

^ Appreciations of Sidonius' style will be found in all

cxxiv Introduction

But the position of Sidonius no longer depends on
his manner ; his style is to-day brushed aside as a tire-
some veil, obscuring what he has to say. He refused
to write history ; ^ he survives as the historian malgre
luu Though he missed one of the great opportunities in
literature ; though he failed to record much that was
most worth recording in the world about him, and
instead of the new drama of his times preferred to
transmit for the hundredth time the vapid and worn-out
stories of Greek mythology, he has yet preserved for us
facts enough to constitute him a chief authority on the
century in which he lived. His literary fate is indeed
a paradox ; he is one of those men whose parergon alone
is valued, and who are esteemed for the very part
of their work which they themselves deemed least
important. By a careful sifting of the Letters and the
Poems, ^ modern writers have extracted much material
which, classified and co-ordinated, has thrown useful

writers who deal with his works. The substance of their
criticisms is contained in the severe judgement of the Bene-
dictines: Sa diction est dure^ ses phrases obscures; en un
mot, sa prose est insupportable {Hist, litt, de la France^
ii, p. 570).

^ He was asked by Prosper of Orleans to write on events
in the war with Attila (VIII. xv), and by Leo on the later
history of Gaul (IV. xxii); in each case he refused, either
from disinclination, a sense of incapacity, or from worldly
wisdom. In his reply to Leo he gives his reasons why a
cleric should not turn historian. In this case Sidonius may
have been doubly impressed by the need for caution, as Leo
may have been the mouthpiece of Euric.

2 The Poems, especially the Panegyrics, are as rich in
historical fact and allusion as the Letters.

Introduction cxxv

light on one of the darkest periods of history ; on many
points, Sidonius is the sole source of information. Nor
is his mannerism always with him.^ The Letters which
yield most with least trouble are precisely those in which
an eager personal interest in his subject, or the pressure
of a busy life, or some unexpected necessity for haste
have forced the writer to abandon his preoccupation
with style and tell his business in a natural way. At
such times he speaks directly : tarn nunc dtc'it lam nunc
dehentia diet. The most efficient cause of plainer writing

1 Cf. Baret, pp. 68 ff. Sidonius is the sole authority for
the tradition that Horace was saved after Philippi by the
intervention of Maecenas (Pref. to the Panegyric of Majorian),
and that Crispus was poisoned by Constantine (V. viii). He
alone relates the attacks of Euric on Auvergne,the war waged
by Leo I against the Huns (Panegyric of Anthemius, 1. 236),
the victory of Aetius and Majorian over Cloio (Panegyric
of Majorian, 1. 212), and the campaign of Euric against
Auvergne (Letters, passim). All that we know of the life
of Bishop Patiens is derived from him; so is our knowledge of
the priests Constantius and Claud ianus Mamertus ; Prosper
of Orleans is only mentioned in his pages, and he has pre-
served the names of numerous Gallo-Roman philosophers and
poets otherwise unrecorded or hardly known. The names of
Ragnahild and Sigismer are given only by him. He has
done similar service in his literary allusions. We can infer
from IV. xii. i that the Epitrepontes of Menander, of which
we have now recovered a great part, was preserved intact in his
time. Through him we learn of works now wholly lost,
e. g. an account of Julius Caesar by Livy, a history of Caesar
by Juventius Martialis, and the Epheinerides of Caesar's lieu-
tenant, Balbus (all IX. xi). He also mentions works of
Palaemon and Junius Gallio, brother of Seneca, which are
no longer extant (V. x). An epigram attributed by him to
Symmachus does not occur in the works of that author as we
now possess them (VH. x. i).

cxxvi Introduction

was probably the stress of episcopal work ; to this our
debt is large. We are infinitely relieved when amid the
familiar affectations we come upon the stilus rusttcans or
the sermo usualis for which he apologizes as a degrada-
tion of his pen.^ We almost lose sympathy with him in
his personal troubles, as soon as it appears that it is
misfortune which has simplified his diction.^ Appre-
ciating to the full the honourable solicitude of Sidonius
for the purity of Latin, and his ever-present fear of
Celtic or Teutonic encroachments,^ we are willing to
condone any intrusions from the vulgar tongue to be rid
for a while of the alliterations, the inversions, the forced
antitheses, and to see the meaning quickly in a simple
dress. What we want of Sidonius is plain fact, and it
is pleasant to admit that occasionally we get it without
too much exasperation ; sometimes the actor removes
the mask and speaks in unaffected tones. Let it there-
fore be recorded to his credit that he does not always
offend, and that not once or twice, but many times, he
writes in a manner worthy of Roman literature at
an earlier day. Let it also be remembered that his

^ VII. ii. I ; IV. X. Cf. VIII. xvi Nos opuscula sermoiie
condidimus arido exilij certe inaxima ex pat^te vtilgato.

2 IX. iii.

^ Cf. VIII. ii ; and III. iii, where he uses the phrase :
Sermonis Celtici squaina. The Latin language stood in a
more impregnable position than the pessimists supposed.
Not only Avas it the most efficient instrument of expression in
law, theology, and the sciences, but it was indispensable as
the language of diplomacy between the various Teutonic
courts. Probably most of the principal barbarians could
speak it, at any rate among the Visigoths. Cf. Germain,

p. 133.

Introduction cxxvli

subject-matter is often well presented ; when his narrative
interests him, he can tell a story brightly and with
effect. Nor should we overlook the fact that Sidonius
has a gift for portraiture, which frequently lends animation
to his pages. Sometimes a character is sketched in
a few sentences, as in the case of Paeonius the parvenu,
the malicious old Athenius/ the lively veteran Filimatius
who plays ball with the younger men (V. xvii), and
Himerius the model priest (VII. xiii). At other times
the description is at greater length, and details are drawn
with a free hand. We have amusing pictures of the
young fortune-hunter Amantius (VII. ii), and of Ger-
manicus the juvenile sexagenarian (IV. xiii), who
dresses in the fashion, who will hear nothing of age
except the increased respect it brings, and grows more
boyish every day (non iuvenescit solum sed quodammodo
repuerascit). We have the interesting sketch of Vectius
the country gentleman, whose girdles are of exquisite
design, who hunts, hawks, and entertains his friends,
but listens to the Psalms at meals, and is more priestly
in spirit than many of those who wear priests' garments
(IV. ix). We have the memoir of Claudianus Mamertus
who does all the hard work for his brother St. Mamertus,
to which allusion has been made above (p. Ixxxi);
we have the reminiscences of Lampridius, the quick-
tempered rhetor, murdered by his slaves (VIII. xi).
In other cases classes of men are portrayed with the
same precision ; for instance, informers, or popularity-
hunting candidates for municipal appointments (XV. xix).
A writer possessing such penetration and such graphic

^ I. xi. i; and 12.

cxxviii Introduction

powers as these deserves something more than an
untempered ridicule.

Yet the counts in the indictment are sufficiently
numerous. First and foremost there is the mania for
antithesis, and plays on words which degenerate into the
most lamentable of puns, for paronomasia,^ antonomasta^
and all the other obliquities of language which sound
like the infirmities which they are. A critical examina-
tion of Sidonius' work resembles literary pathology ; his
language is often diseased language, which could only
regain a semblance of health by a free use of the knife.
It calls aloud for amputation of the platitudes, pomposi-
ties, and verbal conceits which the euphuist himself
would renounce as foolish. It is unnecessary to dwell
long on a subject which has its pathetic side, yet con-
crete instances must be adduced in evidence.

First, we may take examples of the ruling passion for
antithesis. The abuse of this is persistent, and some-
times verbal oppositions are cumulated with almost
incredible pertinacity, as, for instance, in the description
of Ravenna (I. viii). Sidonius pits against each other
the words novus and vetus or antiquus^ until the staleness
of the trick infuriates. Thus novus clericus^ peccator
antiquus (IX. ii) ; novo exemplo am'ic'itiarum Vetera iura
(VII. vi. l), in fam'iliari vet us to novum ius potest atis
(V. xviii). But no glaring contrast of word or sense,
however elementary, comes amiss ; for instance : pingues
caed'ihus gladn^ rnacri ieiumis praeliatores (VII. vii. 3)
conjiieiur repulsam qui profit etur offensam (VII. ix)
phareiras sagittis vacuare^ lacr'imis oculos implere (V. xii)
Cuius parva tuguria magnus hospes hnplest'i (III. ii)
Itinerum longitudinem^ brevitatem dierum^ &c. (III. ii. 3).

Introduction cxxix

And so on, and so on. The reader who desires more
of this misplaced ingenuity will find instances on every
other page. Plays upon words are no less common.
Inferre calumnias^ deferre personas^ afferre m'tnas^ auferre
substantias (V. vii) ; sctentta fortts^ forttor conscientia
(IX. iv) ; at non remaneamus terrent quibus terra non
remanet (IX. iii) ; luste iusta solventes (III. iii. 8);
Indidtt prosecut'ionibus^ ed'tdit tribunaltbus ^ prodid'it par-
tibus^ addttit titulis^ &c. (VI 11. vi. 7) ; seu sic sentient e
Concordia^ seu sic concordante sententia (IV. xxv. 5);
inconsulte consultat. (VIII. ix. 1 3); praedae praedia
(IV. xxv. 2) ; suspicere iudicium^ suscipere consilium
(IV. xxii. i). The changes are continually rung upon
such words as dicere and ducere^ suspicere despicere^
or are per or are.) ambiendus ambitiosus, providere praevidere^
&c. The list of such things is endless, but we are not
yet at the worst ; we have to endure puns from which
a schoolboy would recoil. A proper name like Faustus,
Perpetuus, or Rusticus is seldom allowed to escape : let
two of them represent the series : Perpetuo durent
culmina Perpetui (IV. xviii — this to be carved on the
wall of a church) ; rusticans midtum quod nihil rusticus
(VIII. xi. 6, cf. Rusticus^ It is pardonable for a man
once in a way, in intimate conversation, to indulge
a weakness of this kind, but how can a bishop
be forgiven who puns for publication, and in work
carefully revised not only by himself but by his
friends ? From a long list we may cite the follow-
ing specimens : non tarn honorare censor quam censetor
onerare (VIII. viii) ; honoris . . . oneris (IX. ii) ;
ex more . , , ex amore (IX. iv. i) ; classicum in class e
cecinisse (VIII. vi. 13) ; Aptae fuistis^ aptissime defuistis

cxxx Introduction

(IX. ix) — perhaps the worst of all. It is time
to draw the veil over faults which it is impossible
to condone ; we may conclude with the following
instances o^ paronomasia and antonomasia. Leges Theo-
dosianas calcans^ Theudoricianasque proponens (I. ii. 3) ;
Jlumen In verbis, fulmen in clausulis {IX. vii) ; inter per-
fectos Domini quam inter praefectos Valentiniani (VII.
xii. 4).

The reader may be spared illustration of the over-
loaded interminable sentences ; or of the strings of
illustrative instances and persons, sometimes eight or
ten where two would have sufficed, till the tail is out
of all proportion to the kite ; or of the mannerism which
declares for silence on things which might be praised,
and then enumerates them to the bitter end ; or of the
labouring of points till they are, so to speak, hammered
blunt ; or the tautologies recalling the ' which here thou
vie west, beholdest, surveyest or seest ' of Armado : to
insist on these things is to waste time ; there is no
possible defence. We may pass to other features, not
reprehensible in themselves, but made so by immoderate
or tasteless use. The metaphors of Sidonius for the
most part are familiar, and worn in service. The world
is a threshing-floor, spiritual exhortation a harrow. Life
is like a river ; a literary career is a seaTVoyage ; the
mind of man is a sea, suddenly disturbed by the squall
of adverse tidings. Silence is a curb ; evil tongues are
like barbed hooks. Verse written in sorrow is like the
song of swans, or the music of very tense strings
(VIII. ix. 4). A king's favour is a flame, which
illuminates afar, but in neighbourhood consumes
(III. iii. 9). A friendship not maintained is like a

Introduction cxxxi

sword that rusts if not frequently polished.^ The
schools of Lyons resemble a mint, in which youthful
natures are struck on a philosophical die (IV. i. 3).
Where originality is attempted, the result is often either
crude ^ or over-intricate. As an example of the latter
fault we may take the passage comparing the scion
of a clerical family to a rosebush, for if he be not holy
he stands amid all the roses armoured in the thorns of
his sin (IV. xiii. 4) ; or that comparing Lupus, the
generous discoverer of hidden talent, to the sun, whose
searching rays will detect and draw up a moisture
hidden deep under ground (IX. xi. 9); again, that
which likens an author who is always writing but
never publishes, to a dog who only snarls but never
barks out (VII. iii. 2). Sometimes we find similitudes
extraordinary to our taste, like the mysticus adeps et
spiritalis arvina^ which recalls the startling similitudes
of a Crashaw or a Donne (VI. vi. 2). It is not sur-
prising to find that Sidonius will mix metaphors with
any man. Salsi sermonis libra (III. ii. l); lacrtmis
hahenas anima partur'iente laxavi (IV. xi. 7) 5 manum
linguae porrtgis (IV. i, 3); qu'tbus . . , faece petulantiae
lingua polluitur infrenis (III. xiii. 2), may suffice to show
his quality. There are other defects or affectations, not
immediately concerned with words, but equally due to
the same imitative contentment with bad rhetorical
tradition. There is the tiresome realism which insists
upon elaboration of unessential details offensive to the
finer sense — what Chaix has called la manie de tout

* The rusty sword or rusty armour is used more than once
in different comparisons (cf. VI. vi. i).

^ Fortunae nauseantis vomitu exsputus (I. vii. 12).

i 2

cxxxii Introduction

peindre ; ^ there is the parade of erudition which, if less
obtrusive than the determined pedantry of Cassiodorus,
is yet a weariness to the reader ; there are the hyperbole
in flattery, the perverse preference of the inappropriate,
the joy in ' combinations of confused magnificence '. We
cannot more justly stigmatize the work of Sidonius
at his worst ^ than by continuing the criticism from
which the last phrase was quoted, a criticism directed
against certain English poets of the seventeenth cen-
tury,^ but equally applicable to our author of the fifth.
For his style too is marred ' by descriptions copied
from descriptions, by imitations borrowed from imita-
tions, by traditional imagery and hereditary similes '.
The thing could not be better said.

The result of all these artifices, applied with an
unshrinking hand, is that Sidonius is often hard to
construe.^ Ruricius, his younger contemporary and

1 ii, p. 97. Cf. the description of the parasite (III. xiii).

2 It need hardly be said that Sidonius is at his worst when
he believed himself at his best. His calculated effects are
almost all tedious in form and redolent, not (to use a phrase
of his own) of the Muses, but of the rhetor's lamp. Among
such show-pieces are (in addition to the description of the
parasite) : the reply to the complaint of Claudianus Mamertus
(IV. iii), the letter on Claudianus Mamertus' death (IV. xi),
that on the informers at Chilperic's court (V. vii), that with
the disquisition on necessary affinity between the cultured
(VII. xiv). Even the letters on Theodoric (I. ii) and
Petronius Maximus (II. xiii) are not free from these defects.

3 Johnson, Lives of the Poets \ Life of Cowley.

* For instance, the translator will be confronted by sen-
tences like the following: Nain aim viderein quae tibi pulchra
sunt 72on te videre^ ipsa??i eo te??ipore desiderii tui i7npatientiam
desideravi (IV. xx. 3).

Introduction cxxxiii

partial imitator, was the first to complain of his
obscurity, Petrarch confessed that he often found
him unintelligible ; ^ and the most accomplished modern
editors of his text admit that he presents some problems
which they cannot be sure of having solved.^ While
diffuseness is his besetting sin, some of his phrases are
condensed to the point of impenetrability, and his
constructions are rendered obscure by the imperfect
development of his thought. Petrarch wondered at the
audacity of his style ; yet, as Baret has remarked, when
it is examined, it is found that in prose he has fewer
direct irregularities than Tacitus, and, in verse, than
Virgil. It is rather a certain strange exotic character,
instinctively felt, but not easily defined, which charac-
terizes our author's work, compared not only with that
of the golden age, but with that of a late writer like
Symmachus. He is ' heteroclite ' ^ ; his cadences have
an unfamiliar ring ; when they are read aloud, they
strike us as differing not in degree, but in kind from
those of the classical authors. Were it not that an
early critic has given blunt utterance to the suspicion,^

^ Sidonii temeritatem admirari vix sufficio^ nisi forte
temerarius ipse sim^ qui temerarium ilium dicam^ dum sales
eiuSf seu tarditatis meae^ sen illius styli obice^ seu fortassis
{nam unumqiiodque possibile est) scripturae vitiOy non satis
intelligo (Preface to Epistulae adfam,).

2 See Preface, p. iv,

5 The word is Baret's, p. io6e

* Giraldus of Ferrara (quoted by Baret), who says that
both in prose and verse Sidonius strikes him as having some-
thing of the Gaul and the barbarian : in utroque dicendi
generCy Galliantim nescio quid et barbarum redolere videtur.
{De poet, hist. Dialog, v; in Opera, ii, p. 114.) Sidonius

cxxxiv Introduction

we should hardly dare to hint that some subtle Celtic
influence had really affected his manner, and that, un-
known to himself, the older Gaul was secretly revenged
upon this son of hers who had only ears for an Italian
idiom. Is it merely a fancy that indigenous turns
of thought have been unconsciously adopted by this
champion of the classics? Do we witness the first
movement towards the changes which were to issue in
the Romance language in the South of France ? Various
indications seem to point that way. The synthetic
structure of the older Latin tends to pass into analysis :
the conjunctions quia or ^^wi? J replace the complementary
infinitive ; the abstract replaces the concrete term. Pre-
positions grow more indispensable to inflected cases ;
the genitive is used in a manner which is almost French.
The reader of the Latin text will discover a number
of words or turns of expression used in a mediaeval or
modern way. In one place, if not in two, the word
famiJia is employed in the French, in place of the old
Latin sense (VI. vii). Vir Ittterarum is homme de lettres ;

would himself have borne any reproach rather than this.
For the lifelong guardian of pure Latin in Gaul, the con-
temner of the Celtica squama, to be told that his own style
smacked of barbarism, would have been a blow too grievous
for endurance. His zealous interest in Latinity and his un-
easiness at the indifference of certain fellow nobles to correct
diction, deserved.a better reward (II. x ; III. iii. 2 ; IV. xvii ;
VIII. ii). Discussing the influence of Celtic dialect, Fertig
asks what kind of Latin the middle classes spoke, if even
nobles were so careless? (Part iii, p. 24). It is perhaps
significant that Sidonius himself insists on his preference for
current words, and on his avoidance of archaisms or far-fetched
terminology (VIII, xvi).

Introduction cxxxv

nebula de pulvere is nuage de poussiere. Baret records
a number of these peculiarities, and gives a list of the
archaisms and neologisms in the text.^ We may note
a few favourite or peculiar words : e. g. tumultuarius^
used of rapid or impromptu composition ; knocmari, to
coax or flatter ; fattgatio^ chaff or banter ; eventiiare, to
go over, or search through ; humankas, hospitality ;
piperatum, ' piquant ' or caustic. To some words
Sidonius appears to give a new sense ; thus it is hard
to avoid the conclusion that more than once he employs
toreuma where toral is alone appropriate. In his com-
plimentary formulae he is as a rule correct and Roman ;
though he is fond of abstract terms like celsitudo or
Sanctitas tua as honorific appellations.^ His super-
scriptions give the name of his correspondent in the
dative, with the addition of suo^ if the person is a friend,
or of the title domino papae if he is a bishop.^
Sidonius does not employ the affectionate modes of
address adopted by Ruricius, e, g. domino pectoris su'i
Lupo ; domino animae suae Pomerio ; domino venerabili^
admirabili^ et Sanctis omnibus aequiparando Sidonio. As
a rule, the letter ends with a Vale ; but when the corre-
spondent is a bishop, the formula is : memor nostri esse
dignare^ domine Papa, In one instance he closes with
an ora pro nobis (VII. xii — to Ferreolus).

So much for the more obvious characteristics which

1 p. 99; pp. 115 ff.

2 But after Diocletian, such epithets as ^ your sublimity',
* your magnificence \ became the common mode of addressing
great officials of State.

3 The word papa is applied to bishops throughout.

cxxxvi Introduction

mar the style of Sidonius ; we have now briefly to
estimate his merits as a letter-writer. It need hardly
be said that he cannot be placed in the first rank ; he is
not, as his friends averred, a second Pliny, far less
a second Cicero. But he touches so many sides of
contemporary life; he lived through such momentous
times ; he is so exceptional in speaking with two voices,
first as man of letters, nobleman and high official, then
as a prominent Churchman, that in spite of his deterrent
style, he has an interest somewhere for almost every
reader.^ In most things but the cultivation of brevity,
he is superior to his predecessor Symmachus, whose
letters seldom touch either great or entertaining issues,
but are written to discharge the obligations of a punctual
correspondent, and are often brief as memoranda, and of
an unsurpassed aridity.^ It will be more easy to under-
stand the level on which Sidonius should be placed if
we consider a few of the gifts which make the letter-
writer, and then ask whether he possessed them. The
master in this art must not be argumentative, or his
letters become treatises ; he must not always be serious,
or they may insensibly change to sermons. He must
know, as one of the greatest of the craft has said, how

^ Sidonius tends to avoid the deeper subjects which occupy
the thoughts of Jerome and Augustine. But in the ordinary
field of life his range is very wide.

2 Cf. Dill, Book ii, ch. 2. The successors of Sidonius as
representatives of the art of letter-writing in Gaul, Ruricius
of Limoges and Avitus of Vienne, both share his defects of
over-elaboration and tumidity. Cassiodorus, the Italian,
writing in the first half of the sixth century is no improve-
ment ; he has been described as ' concealing commonplaces
within fold after fold of verbosity '.

Introduction cxxxvii

to approach great matters by their small side — prendre
les grandes choses par les petits cotes. If he confines
himself chiefly to questions of public concern, he must
be doubly careful to be individual, terse, and vivid ;
above all, he must have the light touch, and the latent
gaiety, which never permit the tale to drag. He must
be skilled in expression ; things must be put, they
will not put themselves. But the art must be so con-
cealed that what he writes afl^ects us like the prompt
phrases of an unpremeditated conversation. He must be
catholic in taste and subject. He must interest most
men and not a few ; the greatest letter-writers play
upon an instrument of many strings. And, in the
modern view, at any rate, his letters should be often
intimate, revealing the writer's own mind, and telling
something of his private life. We thus require of the
perfect correspondent much that even the greatest of
the ancient letter- writers cannot give. They are mostly
Romans ; and Roman manners entailed reticence on
intimate things ; hence a certain preoccupation with intel-
lectual themes and public affairs, which tends to reduce
the human interest of their letters. It is not that human
interest is absent ; there is evidence enough, especially in
the case of Cicero, to prove the contrary. But it is often
too much in the background, and a correspondence
which is too objective is not letter-writing at its very
best : it is one-sided ; it lacks the perfect balance. For
these reasons, even the first among the ancients will
sometimes disappoint a modern reader familiar with
the achievement of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, but approaching the classics for the first time.
In many ways Cicero is almost modern ; his lively

cxxxviii Introduction

sympathies bring him nearer to natural unreserve than
any letter-writer of antiquity ; he stands in a class by
himself. But if we are conscious of a something
wanting when reading Cicero, with all his ardour, his
mobility, his colour and conciseness of phrase, it is
inevitable that the same deficiency in the less admirable
Sidonius should cause a more conspicuous void. The
studied care for form which makes the agreeable Pliny
sometimes tire, is exaggerated in his last disciple until all
spontaneity is lost. And while the manner is frequently
repellent, the matter often wearies in its turn ; there is
too much laudation of obscure literary efforts, too little
talk of home affairs, of country life, of details of travel,
of the natural beauties of southern France. Nature is
overlooked, or regarded, as it were, with the eyes of
a duke or cardinal of the Renaissance, seated at a com-
fortable point of vantage and with quotations from Virgil
nearer to his lips than true feeling to his heart.^ When
Sidonius visited Rome in the time of Anthemius, his
route followed the Flaminian Way from Rimini ; and
the latter part of it was the wonderful hundred and fifty
miles beginning at Foligno, the stage which travellers
from northern Europe used to cover before the days of
railways. Goethe followed it when he first approached
Rome ; Shelley came down it in 1 8 1 8, and felt the
charm to the full. But of that charm the Gallo- Roman

^ Though, as Sir A. Geikie has once more demonstrated
{The Love of Nature among the Romans, 191 3) > several of
the great writers had a true passion for natural beauty, yet,
taking Latin literature as a whole, we find the spectacular
aspect of nature rather too prominent ; landscape and ' scenery*
are the same thing.

Introduction cxxxix

poet Is silent, betraying no interest in these things, and
assuming none in his correspondent. He has nothing
to say of Spoleto, or the falls of the Velino ; we should
never guess that he had seen Soracte from Civita
Castellana, or looked from Castelnuovo across the
valley of the Tiber towards the distant Alban hills.
And on his river journey down the Ticino and the Po,
though the song of the birds in the bulrushes gives him
pleasure, his thoughts are soon diverted to Tityrus and
the metamorphosis of Phaethon's sisters. For these
and other reasons Sidonius cannot be placed very high
among the masters who have expressed themselves
through the medium of letters. It is in vain to seek in
his pages the unstudied brilliance of Mme de S^vign6,
the wit and vivacity of Voltaire, the light irony of
Horace Walpole, or the natural gaiety of Cowper. We
feel that Sidonius would never christen a path or copse
'La Solitaire' or 'La Sainte Horreur';^ or stay
alone in the woods all day for sheer love of verdure.
His is not the art to throw off a likeness in half a
dozen words, or to resume an affair of State in a pair of
sentences ; nor is it his to make a hearthside event like
the escape of a pet hare an absorbing and complete
adventure. In edification, he lacks the winning sim-
plicity, the amiable grace of St. Francis of Sales, He
cannot restrain his scholarship like Gray, or expand in
confidences like Lamb. His humour often strikes us

^ Though Pliny nicknamed his villas on Lake Como
* Tragedy' and * Comedy', because one was on a high rock,
the other on a low. Yet here again the Stage intrudes on
Nature.

cxl Introduction

as forced ; ^ he has compliments like those of the
Hotel de Rambouillet, but less adroitly turned. In
fine, he was the victim of an artificial training ; he
lived in times not of renaissance but of dissolution ;
his was an age more eager for epistolary honours than
any other, but more obviously debarred by circumstance
from their attainment. ^

Though we are not primarily concerned with Sido-
nius as poet, the inclusion in the Letters of some dozen
epigrams and short pieces compels us to ask whether
Gibbon's contemptuous phrase is deserved. Were
these verses all that remained to us, there could be but
one answer ; * insipid ' is a temperate epithet for some
among them. Of the two impromptu epigrams, one
on the imputed satire (I. xi. 1 4), the other on Fili-
matius' towel (V. xvii. 10) we can only say that, like
other couplets written against time, they should not

1 Germain, in defence of Sidonius' humour, cites the letter
to Graecus on Amantms (VI. viii), and the letter to Trygetius
(VIII. xii). The former is probably the best which our author
achieved in this field. In the second, as in that to Namatius,
there is a certain straining after effect which tires the reader
and defeats the humorist's end. We may add the remarks
about doctors (II. xii) and incompetent sportsmen (VIII. vi).
Cf. also IV. xviii ; IX. vii.

2 In many ways Sidonius recalls the Seigneur de Balzac
(Jean-Louis de Guez, b. 1594, d. 1654), just as much as
Voiture. The following passage from Balzac's letter to Cor-
neille acknowledging a copy of ^Cinna' will illustrate the
affinity ; Voire Cinna guerit les malades ; il fait que les
paralytiques battent des mains ; il rend la parole ct un muet
. . . S'il ^tait vrai qu'en quelquune de ses parties votes
eussiez senti quelque faiblesse, ce serait un secret e7itre vos
Muses et vous^ car je vous assure que -be'^so^tne ne Va reconnue.

Introduction cxH

have been exposed to time's revenge. The epitaphs,
elegies, and church inscriptions have the mechanical
correctness to be expected of one whose mind was
continually exercised by questions of metre. But they
are mostly written out of good nature, or out of kind-
ness of heart, motives which in all ages have often left
the imagination uninspired. In truth, some of them
come near to deserving the title of naenia epitaphistarum
which their author almost feared for them himself.
The poet's reputation cannot, however, be judged by
these secondary efforts ; it rests upon the Carmina, the
twenty-four poems issued in 468,^ and chiefly upon
the three panegyrics in honour of Avitus, Majorian,
and Anthemius. In these more ambitious works,
which challenge, if unsuccessfully, a comparison with
Claudian and Statins, we find the same faults so con-
spicuous in the writer's prose, with others added — the
glittering antitheses, the far-fetched metaphors, the
forced emphatic utterance, the unquestionable facility,
the lack of emotional inspiration, the tiresome parade
of knowledge, making whole parts read ' like versified
chapters out of Livy'. But though over the greater
part hangs the curse of an implacable memory that
cannot forget the Schools, though Pegasus is ever
reined to the manege, the whole achievement cannot
fairly be dismissed as bad because the bad preponder-
ates.^ It may be that here, as in the stilted periods

^ The poems were published at the request of Magnus
Felix. The fact that the panegyric of Anthemius is placed
first, out of its historical sequence, is in favour of the date
mentioned above.

2 Fertig, Part ii, p. 15.

cxlii Introduction

of the Letters, the ear is arrested by unfamiliar rhythms
and strange sonorities ; here, too, a breath of barbarism
has passed. But where the author feels his conscious
power, there is dexterity, opulence and movement,
there is a pageantry of changing form and colour to
which the name of poetry cannot be denied. There
are narrative passages which seize and hold the interest ;
for example, the description of the Vandals, or of the
Roman army crossing the Alps. Parts of the Panegyric
of Majorian advance with an ardour worthy their theme,
while here and there flash out gnomic phrases after the
glittering style of Lucan.^ The declamatory manner
of these hexameters, so far removed from the suave
Virgilian grandeur, admits of frequent brilliance in
description ; the effect is that of historical painting on
a large scale by a skilful but uninspired master. Some
of the pieces on less ambitious subjects are not without
occasional grace. The verses to Majorian, pleading for
remission of the triple tax, strike a light vein with
more success than the humour of the Letters would
lead us to expect ; but the Epithalamia would damage
any reputation.^ Sidonius is at his best in the rhetorical
vein ; he is the rhetor through and through. In his
never-failing fluency, his adroit use of mythology and
proverbial wisdom, he is the natural successor of
Ausonius, and takes his place after him among the
poets of the Roman decadence.

The literary reputation of Sidonius long survived
his death. Ruricius of Limoges, in some respects

* Cf. the often quoted lines : Has inter clades et Junera
mundi \ Mors vixissefuit.
2 Carm, XI. xv.

Introduction cxliii

a pupil, refers to him in eulogistic terms, though
conscious, as we have seen, of a certain obscurity in
his style ; ^ so does Avitus of Vienne, another late
writer of letters.^ Gregory of Tours praises his elo
quence and power of improvisation.^ Cassiodorus
regards him as a master ; Ennodius and Fortunatus
are his frank admirers ; ^ Jornandes had clearly read
his poems.^ Savaron has illustrated his popularity
during the Middle Ages, when John of Salisbury,
Abelard, and other scholars were familiar with his
works, and mediaeval writers sought to imitate his
manner.^ But in the fourteenth century, the growing
familiarity with Classic models reacted unfavourably
upon his reputation. We have already noted that
Petrarch was critical ; and the Renaissance more
critical still. Politian was unimpressed by his style ;
Vives called his prose nd^\z\AQ\x'Si{ahsurdi$stma)\ Casaubon
is severe, though Scaliger can still find words of praise.*^
The editions of Savaron and Sirmond revived an
interest in his works ; but with the eighteenth century
he finally lost credit as a writer of Latin, while securing
a permanent place as an authority for the history of
his times. From Tillemont and Gibbon to Amedee
Thierry, Guizot and more recent historians of his age,

^ Baret, p. 102 ; Germain, pp. 112, 113.

2 Ep. xxxviii. ^ Hist. Franc. II. xxii.

* Ennodius, in his ht Natali S, Epiphaniiy adapts four
lines from the Panegyric on Anthemius, v. 69 ff.

^ The portrait of Attila {Get. c. 24, 25) is indebted to the
Panegyric of Avitus.

® In the excerpts from mediaeval writers {^Elogia Veteruni)
at the beginning of his edition.

"^ See Baret, p. 105.

cxliv Introduction

all have rendered homage to his involuntary merit,
while one man of letters at least, Chateaubriand, has
borrowed material from his pages (p. xciii above).
Despite his chastisement as stylist, Sidonius has not
fared ill at the hands of the posterity to which he
entrusted his fame. Though his periods will never be
recited either for pleasure or instruction, neither his
name nor his work is forgotten ; and in our greater
libraries, while men pursue research, the Letters and
the Panegyrics will always hold their undisputed place.

Of Sidonius as a man it is almost unnecessary to
speak ; the Letters prove his noble qualities, and those
written after his entry into the Church reflect the
saintliness which won him the honour of canonization.
His chief fault, a defect of his ambitious early life, was
an over-readiness to flatter where flattery, if given at all,
should not have come from him. There were times
when he too conveniently forgot the antecedents of the
great, or their connexion with men whom honour for-
bade him to conciliate. Majorian was the comrade
and the nominee of that Ricimer who had murdered
Avitus ; Sidonius forgets the fact too soon. Theo-
doric II had murdered his own brother; Sidonius,
perhaps for a political end, appears oblivious of all
save the royal virtues. Such flexibility is unworthy
of the man who was to write the stern letter of rebuke
to Graecus ; nor was it a true part of the nature which
trials and disillusions proved to be really his. This is
the worst charge which can be brought against him ;
his other failings are little weaknesses which make him
real to us, and which he never seeks to conceal. Thus

Introduction cxlv

he sometimes appears too lenient towards unworthy
action : for instance, towards the deception of the young
adventurer Amantius ; but he confesses with a charming
frankness that he does not Hke censorious rigour (VII.
iv 3). His literary vanity is now and then accentuated
by false modesty (VII. iii, IX. xiii) ; but as a rule
his simple confidence disarms resentment. When he
assured his friend Fortunatus that the appearance of his
name on the superscription of one of the Letters would
ensure its immortality, he was probably more serious
than not ; after all, he spoke the truth, for the name of
Fortunatus is preserved (VIII. v). He probably had
no objection to being called a second PHny (IX. i),
and was quietly convinced that his critics were in the
wrong.^ But no doubt he discounted the eulogy which
he received ; much of it was complimentary verbiage,
belonging to the etiquette of his day ; and he himself
was so profuse of It to others, that he can have been
under no illusion as to its current value. The age
allowed a great latitude in exaggeration ; but it must
be admitted that Sidonius availed himself of it upon
occasion to an extent which is revolting to modern
sentiment. His letter to Claudianus Mamertus reaches
the limit of extravagance, ^ and with all allowance for
the influence of an eulogistic time, we cannot read it

* Sidonius had critics, and apparently sharp ones. Cf. I. i ;
III. xiv; IV. xxii; VIII. i; IX. iv. But his attitude to
criticism is sane : namque aut miniinui7i ex hisce metuendiun
est J aut per ovinia omnino coitticescendmn,

^ Unless it is excelled by the poem to Consentiiis {Carm.
xxiii), of which Dill says that he is ashamed to transcribe the
absurdities (p. 362). Cf. also IV. iii. 22 ; VIII. i, x, xi, xiii ;
IX. iii, vii.

546.22 I [^

cxlvi Introduction

without continual irritation. When we are told that
the subject of his praise can hold his own with the first
names in every field, with Orpheus, Aesculapius, Archi-
medes, Vitruvius, Thales, Euclid, Chrysippus, and all
the greatest Fathers of the Church as well, credulity is
too obviously taxed, and we wish that Sidonius had
remembered more often the gnomic saying which he
ascribes to Symmachus : ut vera laus ornat^ ita falsa
castigat. Nevertheless it must be remembered that
eulogies almost as absurd have been perpetrated in
periods very near our own. Thus Prior, in his Carmen
Saeculare so grossly flattered William III that, in
Johnson's phrase, he exhausted all his powers of
celebration.^ We may dismiss the present subject by
once more applying to Sidonius the words of the same
critic, and say of him that in these matters he ^ retained
as much veracity as can be properly exacted from a
writer professedly encomiastic '.^ Again, Sidonius was
quickly moved, and sometimes allowed his temper to
impair his dignity. He ' blazes out * ^ when views
are expressed which controvert a pet opinion ; and
when more seriously offended, does not confine himself
to words. The apparently innocent disturbers of his
grandfather's grave feel the weight of his fists or the
lash of his whip (III. xii) ; he explodes at the care-

^ We may remember, too, that even Mme de Sevigne once
compared her daughter's style to that of Tacitus.

2 That such indiscriminate eulogy was really a convention,
and not natural to Sidonius, is shown by his readiness at all
times to speak a frank word in season (IV. iv, xiv; V. xix;
VII. vii). His practice did not contradict his theory that
outspokenness is generally best (VII. xviii).

^ ^ Incandui (VII. xiv. i).

Introduction cxlvii

lessness of a slave who lost some letters, and will not
speak to him for days (IV. xii. 2).

But these are the small defects of great qualities.
The most affected of writers is the most natural of men.
Though uncommunicative about his home, he says
enough to show that he was a good father of his
family, affectionate to his wife, solicitous for the health
and welfare of his children. There is real charm in
the passage, already noted, in which he describes him-
self as sitting reading with his son, distracted between
delight in the boy's ardour, and in the fine passages of
the poets (IV. xii) ; there is real regret when in later
years the enthusiasm of the young Apollinaris waned
(V. xii).

He was a loyal friend. Mention has been made
of his fidelity to Arvandus in the dangerous hour of
disgrace (V. vii). Similar qualities are apparent in the
letter on the death of Lampridius, another friend to
whose faults he was by no means blind. At a time
when his own anxieties were great, he exerts himself
to the utmost at the Burgundian court to foil the in-
formers who had brought Apollinaris into danger (V.
vii). A large number of the Letters illustrate his
anxiety for the health and prosperity of those for whom
he felt regard, or his sympathy with them in their mis-
fortunes.^ When he became bishop, this fellow feeling
was extended to a wider circle, and Claudianus Ma-
mertus bears the highest possible testimony to the
unselfishness of his life, when he complains that
Sidonius is so busy attending to those who have no
real claim upon him, that he finds too little time to answer
1 Cf. V. iii, vi, ix, xii.

k2

cxlviii Introduction

the letters of old associates. He, too, like this vener-
ated friend, ' remembered through good and evil the
necessities of the human lot.'^ He was generous alike
in the distribution of gifts and in the sentiment which
is always ready to recognize the qualities of others.
Gregory of Tours relates, in a passage often quoted,
how he gave away his silver plate to relieve distress,
and how, when Papianilla insisted on the recovery of
the silver, the poor were compensated in other ways.^
An example of his kindly thought for others is seen
in VII. xvi, where he sends the winter cowl to
Chariobaudus. He is ever ready to encourage the
literary efforts of younger men (II. x, IX. xi), and
even to lend them most precious volumes in his library,
a supreme test of human kindness. He was capable of
tolerance^ towards those whose religious views he
most detested ; the Letters concerning the two Jews
Gozolas and Promotus exhibit him in a pleasing light,
and his dictum that a man may be a Jew and yet
be sound in judgement does credit to his breadth of
vision. He was sociable and friendly,^ possessed
of tact and patience, accommodating affairs to men in
a manner which would have won the approval of his
favourite Horace. Nor was he devoid of humour ;
though the examples of his wit which have come
down to us are sometimes tiresome, he was probably

^ Condicionis humanae per omnia mentor (IV. xi. 4).

2 Hist. Franc. II. xxii.

3 In his judgements of Origen and Apollonius of Tyana
(II. ix. 5 ; VIII. iii. 4) we mark a distinct freedom of
judgement.

■* In his earlier life he could enjoy good cheer, and evidently
appreciated the refinements of luxury.

Introduction cxlix

good company when in the mood. Throughout the
Letters he appears as the kindly intermediary who
endeavours to help others in the practical difficulties
of life. As bishop, his benevolence is always active.
We see him receiving a truant son and bringing about
a reconciliation with the injured father (IV. xxiv) ;
securing the remission of interest on an old debt for
the advantage of an orphaned family (IV. xxiv) ; per-
suading a delinquent husband to return to his wife
(VI. ix). But he never countenanced favouritism.
He saw clearly that reward should only follow efficient
service, and expressly opposed the plea that promotion
should go by seniority (VIL ix ; VIII. vii). He was
a man of insight and common sense, upon whom
people relied for good advice. Many reflections and
maxims in the Letters attest his practical wisdom.
He insists that the safeguard of enduring friendship
Hes in community of likes and disHkes (III. i) ; he
sees that self-depreciation may be pushed to the verge
of folly (IX. iii. 7) ; he knows that the most bittei
family quarrels are those which arise over the division
of estates (IV. i), and that at a Burgundian court,
as at most others, proximity to kings is dangerous
(III. ix).i

He was a patriot both as Roman and Arvernian.
In the earlier part of his career we find him always
urging the strenuous life for the credit of the Roman
name. We have seen that more than once he rebukes
the men of family who allow all interest to centre in
their estates or pleasures, while the imagines of trabeated

* Cf. his remarks on friendship (V. iii ; IX. xiv), on
happiness (VI. xii), and prudence (IV. vi).

cl Introduction

ancestors look down on their degeneracy (I. vi) ; even
philosophy is not accepted as an excuse for inactive
contemplation (VI. vi). He did not despair of the
empire even in the days of Julius Nepos ; he thought
that if only patriotism were fairly rewarded, as good
men would appear to show it as in the great days of
the past (III. viii). When Auvergne was attacked
by Euric, his spirit was worthy of Roman tradition
at its best. Both during the siege of Clermont
and after it, he evinced a courage and a fortitude
which proved him worthy of his ancestors. It is
unnecessary to dwell upon this crisis of his life ; his
nature issued from it confirmed in strength and re-
fined as by fire. He possessed to the full the moral
strength which enables men to overcome old prejudice
in the service of a changed ideal. The exclusive
magnate who chose his acquaintances with such care
became the friend of all men ; the proud noble could
beg for the Church (III. i ; VIII. iv). He was
consistent in his loyalty to his new profession, and
resolutely maintained the dignity of the priesthood even
against the high worldly rank which he never ceased
to respect (IV. xiv ; VIII. vii). He was sincerely
humble in his sense of his own unworthiness to be
the shepherd of others at a time when he felt the need
of guidance for himself : in his Letters to Lupus and
other bishops after his election to the see of Clermont,
the language is emphatic but the contrition is sincere
(V. iii ; VI. i ; VII. vi). The devotion which in
earlier years had perhaps depended much on formality
of observance was now the guiding principle of his
life ; the reputation for piety which he gained among

Introduction cli

his contemporaries and immediate successors is sufficient
proof of his sincerity. History records no career
precisely comparable to this. Conspicuous alike for
his rank and literary celebrity, Sidonius was in many
ways the first personage in his native land, j^et he
fulfilled his arduous and unfamiliar duties in a spirit
of abnegation equal to that of colleagues trained to the
renunciations of monastic life. In the evil days which
fell upon his country, he never abandoned his people ;
when his own fortunes were darkest, he rejoiced that
others escaped affliction (IV. ii). If Sidonius failed of
greatness as a writer, he surely attained it as a man.

There are extant more than sixty manuscripts con-
taining the whole or the greater part of the works of
Sidonius, and some twenty containing a small part of
them.^ Out of this large number, Lutjohann, when
editing the text for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica^
selected six as of superior importance, some of these
having affinities to a few other manuscripts, which for
this reason were occasionally employed. The six
manuscripts are :

1. Codex Laudianus, (Bodleian Library, MS. Lat.

1 04) 9th or loth century. Known as L.
Related to this book are Partsinus 1854 of the
1 0th century, known as N, and Faticanus 1783,
loth century, known as V.

2. Marcianus, (Marcian Library, Venice, 554.)

loth century. Known as M.

^ See the Summary by Dr. P. Mohr, Praefatio to the
Teubner edition, pp. iii-vi; and Lutjohann and Lowe in
Mon, Germ, Hist. VIII {Auct, Antiq.), pp. vi-xiv.

clii Introduction

3. Laurentianus, (Laurentian Library, Florence,

Plat. XLV. 23.) I ith~i2th century. Known
as T.

4. Matritensts, (Madrid.) lOth-llth century.

Known as C. (Related to this is Vaticanus
3421, loth century.)

5. Partstnus, (Bibl. Nat., Paris, 9551.) 12th-

13th century. Known as F.

6. Parisinus. Bibl. Nat., Paris, 2781.) lOth-

I ith century. Known as P.

Of these, the first is the most valuable, with the two
related manuscripts in Paris and at the Vatican, and with
M and T for use where it fails ; the other three are of
subsidiary importance. It may be noted that certain
lacunae are common to all ; this would seem to indi-
cate that they had a single archetype, which in these
places presented difficulties to the copyist or had per-
haps been damaged by fire.

Printed editions of Sidonius begin with the last
quarter of the fifteenth century, at which period one
was issued from Utrecht and another from Milan, the
latter being reprinted at Basel in 1542 and 1595.
E. Vinet's edition appeared at Lyons in 1552, and
Wouweren^s in Paris in 1598. The same year saw
Savaron's first edition ; his second (the first of critical
value) followed in 1609. J. Sirmond's valuable
edition, with notes from which every one has some-
thing to learn, was issued in 1614; Elmenhorst's
^VQ^ years later. Complete translations have hitherto
appeared only in French ; the first, by R. Breyer,
Canon of Troyes, was printed in 1 706 ; that of

Introduction clili

E. Billardon de Sauvigny in 1787 and 1792 ; Gr^goire
and Coilombet's version dates from 1836. The last-
mentioned work has often been criticized for inaccuracy,
but it is not for one who knows by experience the
difficulties of their task to join in censure upon this
point. Single Letters, or parts of Letters, are sum-
marized or translated by many writers on Sidonius
or his age.

The arrangement of the Letters in nine books is,
as far as is known, that of Sidonius himself. Seven
books were issued at different times at the request of
Constantius, the first appearing in 478.^ The Poems
had already seen the light, perhaps as early as 468
(see above, p. cxli). The eighth book was added at
the request of Petronius the jurisconsult of Aries
(VIII. i),2 and the ninth at that of Firminius (IX. i),
perhaps about the year 484.^ It soon becomes apparent
to any reader familiar with the history of the times, that
the order of the Letters is not chronological ; most
books contain Letters from the earlier and later parts
of Sidonius' life ; and within the limits of the several
books the arrangement often seems capricious, Letters
logically and historically connected being separated by
others unrelated to them in subject. This confusion
is partly due to the fact that, to complete his tale of
nine books,^ Sidonius had to ransack all his drawers

^ Chaix, ii, p. 272.

2 Petronius had the privilege of revising this book, but,
like those which had preceded, it appeared under the auspices
of Constantius. ^ Chaix, ii, p. 306.

* The number was imposed upon him as a professed
admirer and imitator of PHny. Cf. note, 176. i, p. 250.

cliv Introduction

and cases at Clermont for drafts of letters written long
years before : this explains the inclusion in the two
last books of Letters referring to his early manhood.
But it is also true that in preparing for publication
he was not primarily concerned with chronological
sequence ; he brought his letters together for other
reasons, by associations of idea which to us are often
obscure. One of them probably was to ensure to each
book a wide variety of subject, that his readers might
not accuse him of monotony.^ Again, he regarded it
as an advantage of the collection of Letters as such
that it is essentially discontinuous, and provides reading
for odd moments : from this point of view, lack of
logical order is not of prime importance. It has before
now been suggested that the author's arrangement
should be disregarded, and that an edition should be
issued with every letter in its proper order. If it were
possible to give a precise and certain date to the
majority of the letters, the overriding of the order
approved by Sidonius might be justified on utilitarian
grounds. But although certain Letters date themselves
by recounting known events, while the period of others
can be inferred from personal or other allusions, there
remains a large proportion to which nothing more than
conjectural or approximate dates can be given. This
being so, it is hardly justifiable to upset the sequence
which received the author's sanction, and has been
retained for fifteen hundred years. Moreover, the
convenience gained in one direction would be lost in
another ; for the references to Sidonius in historical

1 Pliny seems to have acted on the same principle ; his
letters in like manner are not chronological.

Introduction civ

and critical literature all follow the old system ; and,
were it changed, the reader, driven to consult a table of
concordance at every turn, would soon wish the old
Order back. It has therefore seemed best to keep the
nine books as they stand in the texts, placing at the
head of each letter its certain or conjectural date
wherever such can be reasonably assigned.

In many cases the year is exactly or approximately
indicated by the contents. In others, a particular
allusion, or the general tone, may enable us to infer
the period : for instance, it is often possible to say
with some confidence that a given letter must have been
written before or after the entrance of Sidonius into
the Church, or the abandonment of Auvergne by the
empire. Again, there is a long interval of leisure in
the author's career between a. D. 461 and 467, within
which many letters descriptive of provincial life seem
naturally to fall : a few of these might be transferred to
the years between a.d. 456 and 459, though I have not
actually suggested this. It will thus be seen that the
date of the majority of letters can only be regarded as
approximate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Works specially relating to Sidonius.

Baret, M. E. C. S. Sidonii Apollinaris Opera : CEuvres de

Sidoine Apollinaire. Paris, 1878.
Bitschofsky, R. De C, Sollii Apollinm'is Studiis Statianis,

1881.
Brakman, C. Sidoniana et Boethiana. 1904.
[Breyer, R. Letters of St. Lupus of Troyes and St. Sidonius

of Clermont, translated by R. B., Canon of Troyes.

Troyes, 1706.]
Biidinger, M. Apollinaris Sidonius als Politiker, in Sitz-

ungsberichte der Wiener A kad, xcwii. 1880.
Chaix, L. A. Saint Sidoine Apollinaire et son siecle. 1867.
Cregut, G. R. Avitacum, essai de critique sur V emplace-
ment de la villa de Sidoine Apollinaire, 1890 [in Mem.

de I'Acad. des Sciences de Clermont-Ferrand, 2nd Series,

fasc. 3.]
Dill, S. Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western

Empire. 1898.

[Especially pp. 157 ff. and 270 ff.]
Ellis , R. Glossae in Apollinarem Sidonium ex Codice

Digbeiano 172 : in Anecdota Oxoniensia i, pt. v. 1882.
Elmenhorst, G. C, S. A, Sidonii Opera, ex postrema recogni-

tione To. Wovverii, ^c, Geverhartus Elmenhorstius edidit

ex vet, cod. textum emendavit et indicem copiosum adiecit,

Hanoviae, 1617.
Eshevsky, S. V. C. S. Apoll. Sidonius: Episodes of the

Lite7'ary and the Political History of Gaul in the Fifth

Century. St. Petersburg, 1855 (in Russian).
Fertig, M. Caius Sollitis Apollinaris Sidonius und seine

Zeit, nach seinen Werken dargestellt, Wlirzburg, 1845-8

(unfinished : three parts issued).

Biblio^aphy civil

Germain, A. C. Essai historique et litter aire sur Apollinaris

Sidonius, Montpellier, 1840.
Gregoire, J. F., and Collombet, ¥, Z. CEuvres de C. Sollius

Apollinaris Sidonius. Paris, 1836.
Grupe, E. Zur Sprache des Apollinaris Sidonius. 1892.
Gustaffson, F. V. De Apoll. Sidon, emendando. 1882.
Kaufmann, G. Die Werke des Apollinaris Sidonius als eine

Quelle fUr die Geschichte seiner Zeit. Gottingen, 1864.
Pericaud, A. Notice historique sur Sidoine Apollinaire,

Lyons, 1825.
[Notices extracted from the Archives dii Rhdne, and

used, with additions and alterations, by Gregoire and

Collombet.]
Purgold, K. Archdologische Bemerkungen zu Claudian und

Sidonius, Gotha, 1878.
Sauvigny, E. Billardon de. Lettres de Caius Sidonius Apolli-
naris. Paris, 1787.
Sauvigny, E. Billardon de. CEuvres de Caius Sidonius Apolli-
naris, 1792.
Savaron, J. C. Solli Apollinaris Opera, Jo. Savaronis studio

et diligentia castigatius recognita. Paris, 1598.
[Text, with Life.]
Savaron, J. C. S. Apollinaris opera ; Jo. Savaro Claromon-

tensis inulto quam antea castigatius recognovit et librum

coinme7ttarium adiecit. Paris, 1609.
[Another edition in 1614. Savaronis commentary is still of

value.]
Sirmond, J. C, S. Apollinaris opera^Jac. Sirmundi Soc.Jesu.

presh. cura et studio recognita notisque illustrata. Paris,

1614.
Sirmond, J. Opera, Jac. Sirmundi cura et studio recognita

notisque illustrata. Editio Secunda. (Curante Ph.

Labbeo.) Paris, 1652.
[Sirmond's work, which passed through later editions, is

an example of seventeenth-century scholarship at its best,

and the notes are excellent.]
Yver, G. Euric, roi des Wisigoths, in Etudes d^'histoii'e du

7noyen age dediees ci G. Monod. 1896.

clviii Biblio^aphy

TEXTS

The two important critical texts are the Teubner text,

edited by Mohr, and that of Llitjohann, Lowe, and Mommsen :

viz, : —

C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonitis, recensuit Paulus Mohr,
Leipzig, 1895.

G. Sollii Apollma7'is Sidonii Episiulae et Carinina, recensuit
et emendavit C. Liitjohajiii.
[Completed by F. Lowe and Th. Mommsen, who contribute
the preface. The Praefatio of Mommsen, dealing with
the life, &c., of Sidonius, is important.]

Among texts of less value not already noted in the biblio-
graphy may be mentioned that printed by J. P. Migne
in his Patrologiae Ctirsus Complettis^ Latin Series, vol.
xviii, 1844; Sidonius is included in J. M. Nisard's
Collection des atttenrs latins^ 1850; in the Bibliotheca
Vetenun Patru??i of A. Gallandius, vol. x, 1765; in
P. Amati's Collectio Pisaurensis, &c., vol. vi, 1766.
The Corpus omniuvi Poetaruin Latinortwi, 1627, and
the Chorus Poetaruin Classicorum duplex, &c., pt. I,
16 1 6, include the Poems.

The sixteenth century produced the texts of J. de Wouweren,
with notes by Wouweren and P. Colvius, Paris and
Lyons, 1598 ; E. Vinetus, Lyons, 1552 ; G. P. Pio, Basel,
1542.

To the fifteenth century belong an imperfect text with Pio's
commentary, produced at Milan in 1498 ; and an edition
issued at Utrecht by N. Ketelaer and G. de Leempt in
1473 (?).

B. Works of General Reference.

Bury, J. B. History of the Later Roman Empii-e. 1889.
The Cambridge Mediaeval History, vol. i. 191 1. (Quoted

as C.M.H.)
Dahn, F. Die Kbnige der Germanen. Pts. V and VI. 1870,

1871.
Duchesne, L. Pastes episcopaux de Vancienne Gaule. 1907.

Bibliography clix

Fauriel. Histoire de la Gaule 77ieridionale sous la domination

des conquerants geri7iains, 1836.
Freeman, E. A. Western Europe in the Fifth Century. 1904.
Gibbon, E. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,

Ch. xxxvi. (Ed. J. B. Bury, 1909 ; vol. iv.)
Guizot, F. P. Histoire de la civilisation en France depuis

la chute de V Empire romain, 1846, vol. i.
Hodgkin, T, Italy and her Invaders. Vols, i and ii (second

ed. 1892).
Histoire litter aire de la France . . . par les Religieux de

S, Maur. 1738, «&c. Vols, i-iii.
Lavisse, E. Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu^h

la Revolution, Vols. i. and ii, 1900.
Schmidt, L. Geschichte der deutschen Stdmme. 19 10.
Thierry, Amedee. Ricits de f histoire romaine an cinquihne

siecle. i860.
Tillemont, L. S., Le Nain de. Memoires pour servir d, V histoire

ecclisiastique des prein iej'S siecles. 1701-12, vol. xvi .

LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS

AND PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE LETTERS

IMPORTANT FOR THE CONTEMPORARY

HISTORY OF GAUL.

{Asterisks indicate correspondents and the letters addressed

to thej?i.)

Abraham. VII. xvii. Saint. Ascetic from Mesopotamia,
who, flying from Persian persecution, settled in Gaul, at
Clermont, where he founded the Community of St. Cirgues.
Died in 477 (June 15th). For a miracle attributed to him on
the occasion of a visit made by Sidonius and Victorius, cf.
Gregory of Tours, Vitae Patrum^ c. iii ; also Hist. Franc,
11. xxi. The relics of St. Abraham were removed to the
church of St. Eutropius in 1804 (Chaix, ii, p. 224).

Aetius. VII. xii. 3. The famous general, who defeated
Attila, and was murdered by Valentinian III. Also men-
tioned in Carni. v, vii, and ix.

*Agricola. *L ii. *II. xii. Brother-in-law of Sidonius ;
son of the Emperor Avitus ; brother of Ecdicius and
Papianilla. Unknown except for mention in Sidonius.

Agrippinus. VI. ii. An unscrupulous priest.

*Agroecms. *VIL v. Cf. VII. ix. 6. Bishop of Sens.
Hist, litt. de la France , ii, p. 564.

Albiso. IX. ii. I. A priest ; or possibly a bishop whose
see is unknown. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 75.

Alethius. II. vii. Party in a dispute with Paulus, which
Sidonius refers for settlement to Explicius.

Amantius. VII. vii, x ; IX. iv. Cf. also VI. viii ; VII. ii.
A young reader who served as letter-carrier between Sidonius
and Graecus. A native of Clermont, he sought to better his
fortunes at Marseilles, with the success related in VII. ii. Cf,
Chaix, ii, p. 108 f.

List of Correspondents clxl

*Ambrosius. *IX. vi. A bishop. Conjectured by
Sirmond to be the same as a correspondent of Ruricius. Cf.
Chaix, ii, p. 98.

Annianus. VIII. xv. Saint. Bishop of Orleans at the
time of Attila's invasion. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc,
II. vii.

Anthemius. I. iv, v, vii, ix ; II. i ; V. xvi. A Byzantine
noble, son of Procopius. Had served on the Danube and
elsewhere, and married Euphemia, daughter of the Emperor
Marcian. Nominated Emperor of the East by Leo, in 467,|after
the death of Severus. On the occasion of his second consulship
in 468 Sidonius addressed a panegyric to him {Carm. ii),
which helped to secure for him the Prefecture of Rome,
Anthemius was not a strong ruler, though Arvandus was
brought to justice in his reign. He gave his daughter Alypia
in marriage to Ricimer (I. v. 10), but ultimately quarrelled
VfiXh. his son-in-law, and died in the same year (472), Sidonius
is the principal authority for many events in his life. Cf.
Carm, i ; ii, 197, 199, 205 ff. See Ricimer.

Antiolus, or Antiolius. VIII. xiv. A bishop whose see
is unknown. Had lived with Lupus at Lerins, and practised
monastic austerities. Also a friend of St. Remi.

*Aper. *IV. xxi; V, xiv. Friend. An Aeduan, possess-
ing influence in Auvergne. See Fronto, Auspicia.

Apollinaris. III. xii ; V. ix. Grandfather of Sidonius ;
Prefect of Gaul in 408 under the 'tyrant' Coi.stantine. Dis-
gusted with the instability of the usurper, he withdrew to
his native city of Lyons, where he died. (Fauriel, Hist, de la
GiUile vieridionale , i, pp. (^*j^ 99.)

*Apollinaris. *III. xiii ; V. xi. 3 ; VIII. vi. 12 ; IX. i. 5.
Son of Sidonius. Cf. Introduction, p. xiv.

*Apollinaris. *IV. vi ; *V. iii, vi ; II. ix. Cousin (?) of
Sidonius, brother of Thaumastus, and apparently also of
Simplicius, to whom, jointly with himself, *IV. iv, xii, are
addressed. (Cf. also VII. iv. 4.) Endangered by informers
at the court of Chilperic, whose machinations were thwarted
by Sidonius.

Apollinaris. II. ix. i. Connexion. Host of Sidonius

646.22 I 1

clxii List of Correspondents

at the estate of Vorocingus (or Voroangus) in the valley ot
the Gard not far from Nimes. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 53.

*Aprunculus. *IX. x. Bishop of Langres. Suspected
of intriguing with the Franks by the Burgundian king Gundo-
bad, he took refuge at Clermont with Sidonius, whom he
there succeeded. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist* Franc, II.
xxiii ; Duchesne, Pastes episcopaux, ii, p. 185.

*Aquilinus. *V. ix. Schoolfellow and friend. Grandson
of Rusticus, the friend of Sidonius' grandfather ApoUinaris,
His father was Vicarius of a province in Gaul under the father
of Sidonius.

*Arbogast. *IV. xvii. Friend. Count, and Governor of
Treves. Descendant of an earlier Arbogast, created count by
the younger Valentinian, and famous in the reign of Theodosius.
Praised as a good Christian by St. Auspicius, Bishop of Toul.
Possibly the same man who became Bishop of Chartres in 473
or 474. (^Hist. litt. de la France, \i, pp. 478, 548 ; Tillemont,
Mem, xvi, pp. 250, 475, &c. ; Gallia Christiana, ii. 481.)

Arvandus. I. vii. Prefect of Gaul. The impeachment
of this governor in the reign of Anthemius was one of the last
acts of authority exercised by the Senate over Gaul. Cf.
Introduction, p. xxx.

Asellus, Flavius. I. vii. 4. Co?nes Sacrartim largitionum
in 469. Guard of Arvandus during his trial.

Astyrius (Asterius, Asturius), Turcius Rufius. VIII.
vi. 5. Consul 449. Had commanded imperial troops with
success in Spain. (Idatius. Ann, 450.)

Athenius. I. xi. Guest at the banquet of Majorian.

*Attalus. *V. xviii. Sirmond conjectures that he is the
Count of Autun who was uncle of Gregory of Tours. In his
youth he had been sent as hostage to Childebert near Treves,
from whom he escaped in an adventurous manner. (Gregory
of Tours, Hist. Franc, iii. 15.)

Attila. VII. xii; VIII. xv. King of the Huns. Cf.
Car?fi. vii. 327.

*Audax, Castalius Innocentius. *VIII. vii. Friend.
Prefect of Rome under Julius Nepos (474).

Aiispicia. IV. xxi. Grandmother of Aper {q, v.).

List of Correspondents clxiii

*Auspicius. *VII. xi ; IV. xvii. 3. Bishop of Toul.
He enjoyed a high reputation for learning and piety. See
Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 478 ; Chaix, ii, p. 86.

Atixanius. VII. xvii. Succeeded St. Abraham as abbot
of the monastery of St. Cirgues, near Clermont.

Auxanius. I. vii. 6. A Roman who advised Arvandus on
the occasion of his impeachment.

Avienus, Gennadius. I. ix. Of the family of the
Corvini. An influential senator at Rome during the period ot
Sidonius' visit in the reign of Anthemius. He had been chosen
by the Senate in 452 to accompany Pope Leo when he went
out to meet Attila. (Prosper of Aquitaine, Chron. An. 452.)
Colleague of Valentinian in his seventh consulate in 450.

*Avitus. *III. i. Kinsman (cousin ?) of Sidonius, and ot
about his age. He possessed influence with the Visigoths,
which he appears to have used with some effect at Sidonius'
request in or about the year 474. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 75, where his
estate of Cottion (Cottium) is mentioned, and Chaix, ii, p. 147.

Basilius, Caecina. L ix. 2. Consul, 463. An in-
fluential senator at Rome, of the Decian family, who secured
for Sidonius the audience at which he recited his Panegyric
to Anthemius, preparatory to his nomination as Prefect of the
city. Basilius was at a later time treated with consideration
by Odovakar, who summoned him to his Court. Cf. Chaix,

ii> P- 333.

*Basilius. *VII. vi. Bishop of Aix. One of the four
bishops who were nominated to treat with Euric (see
Graecus, Faustus, Leontius). Cf. Gregory of Tours,
Hist. Franc. II. xxv.

Bigemis. I. xi. 3. Of Aries. Associated with Paeonius
in the episode of the anonymous satire.

*Burgundio. *IX. xiv. A young man of senatorial
family in Clermont, devoted to rhetoric and poetry.

Caelestius. IX.x. i. Friend. * Fraternoster: Probably
a cleric.

*Calminius. *V. xii. Friend. Son of the senator
Eucherius. Compelled by Euric to fight against Auvergne,
his native country. Cf. Chaix, ii, pp. 292-3.

1 2

clxiv List of Correspondents

Camillus. I. xi. OfNarbonne. Nephew of Magnus (^.z^.).
Cf. Carm. ix, 1. 8.

*Campanianus. *I. x. Friend.

*Candidianus. *I. viii. Friend. Native of Cesena,
settled in Ravenna.

Catuliinus. I. xi. 3, 4. Friend and comrade of Sidonius
at the time of the Coniuratio Marcell\in\iana, Cf. Carm, xii.

*Censorius. *VI. x. Bishop of Auxerre. (Duchesne,
Pastes episcopaux ^ ii, p. 441.)

*Chariobaudus. *VII. xvi. An abbot.

Chilperic. V. vi. 2, vii. i. One of the four kings
(' tetrarchs ') of the Burgundians. Father of Clotilda, queen
of Clovis. Bore the title of Magister inilitum.

Claudianus, see Mamertus, Claudianus.

Consentius. IX. xv. i (v. 22 of the poem). Distinguished
citizen of Narbonne. Owner of the villa Octaviana between
Narbonne and Beziers. A man of great intellectual gifts. Cf.
Carm. xxiii. 33, 98, 169, 177.

*Consentius. *VIII. iv; IX. xv. i (v. 22 of the poem).
Friend. Son of the preceding. Possessed a great reputation
as poet in Greek and Latin (IX. xv). Succeeded to the
Villa Octaviana. In earlier life entered the Imperial service,
and was entrusted by Valentinian III with missions to Con-
stantinople, Prefect of the Palace under Avitus. {Carm.
xxiii, 2, 98, 176.) Hist, litt, de la France^ ii, p. 653.

Constans. IV. xii. A lector^ or anagndstes,

Constantinus (III). V. ix. i. * The tyrant ' (407-411).
A soldier, proclaimed emperor in Britain. Established his
power in Gaul, and was recognized by Honorius. But
Gerontius {q. v.), his general in Spain, revolted ; and having
slain his son Constans at Vienne, besieged the tyrant in Aries.
The emperor, profiting by this disunion, sent against him
his general Constantius, to whom, after a siege of four months,
he surrendered. He was murdered near Mantua by order of
Honorius, while being taken to Ravenna under a safe-conduct
(411). Cf. Freeman, English Historical Review^ i, 1886,

PP-53ff-
*Constantius. *I.i;*IILii;*VII.xviii;*VIILxvi; II.x.3;

List of Correspondents dxv

IX. xvi. I. Priest. Of a noble family in Lyons ; reputed for
eloquence, judgement, and love of letters. The publication of
Sidonius' Letters was suggested by him, and the first Letter
dedicates the book to him. The eighth book, collected at the
request of Petronius, was to be issued under his auspices.
Constantius wrote little himself, his principal work being a Life
of St. Germain of Auxerre, composed at the request of Patiens.
His reputation as a poet led Patiens to ask of him a metrical
inscription for his great church at Lyons (II. x). The
character of Constantius was a noble one, and his influence
wide. When the capital of Auvergne was laid desolate by
the Visigothic siege, Sidonius sent for him, and his arrival
had the most salutary effect upon the desperate population
(III, ii). He is supposed to have died at an advanced age
about 488. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii ; Chaix, ii, p. 206.

Crocus. VII. vi. 9. Bishop. Considered by Sirmond to
have occupied the see of Nimes ; but the only recorded
Crocus lived in the seventh century. (Duchesne, Pastes
episcopauXy i, p. 313.)

Dardanus. V. ix. i. Prefect of Gaul, temp. Honorius,
409-10. After his prefecture he appears to have embraced
Christianity. Letters were addressed to him by Jerome and
Augustine. For an inscription relating to him, cf. note, 60. 4,

P- 237- ^

*Desideratus. *II. viii. Friend: perhaps an ancestor of

St. Desideratus, Bishop of Clermont after St. Avitus. His

poetical judgement was highly valued in Auvergne, and

Severianus considered it an advantage to publish a treatise on

rhetoric under his auspices. {Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 576.)

*Domitius. *II. ii. Friend. Perhaps born at Lyons, but
teaching as a grammarian in the schools of Ameria. Men-
tioned in Carm. xxiv. 10-16 as a severe critic, and compared
to the censorious person who had only laughed once in his life.

*Domnicius. *IV. xx ; V. xvii. 6. Friend.

*Domnulus. *IV. xxv ; IX. xiii. 4, xv. i. Friend ; living
at Aries. Served as Quaestor. Poet and philosopher, with
an interest in theology, and a Churchman. One of the four
poets whom Majorian invited during his sojourn in Gaul.

clxvi List of Correspondents

Probably still living, as an old man, in 483 or 484. Cf.
Carm. xiv ; Hist. Hit, de la France y ii, p. 507,

*Donidius. *II. ix; III. v; VI. v. Friend. Vir
spectabilis. Living on his ancestral estate at Eborolacum
(Ebreuil, near Gannat), in the valley of the Sioule, part of
w^hich he lost during the disturbances of 474.

*Ecdicius. *II. i ; *III. iii ; II. ii. 15 ; V. xvi. i. Son
of the emperor Avitus ; brother of Papianilla and brother-in-
law of Sidonius. Patrician. An athlete and patriot, who
became the champion of his countrymen during the last
resistance of Auvergne to Euric's aggression. Ecdicius con-
tinued the policy of his father Avitus in conciliating the bar-
baric princes, and his diplomacy confirmed the Burgundians
in their support of the Gallo-Romans against Euric ; but he
was also a defender of the purity of the Latin language
against encroaching barbarism. During the misery which
followed Euric's invasion, Ecdicius rivalled Patiens in the
generosity with which he relieved the starving. Some
consider that he is the Isicius who succeeded Mamertus as
Bishop of Vienne (Chaix, ii, p. 209). It is also thought that
he is the Decius whom Jomandes describes as leaving his
country in disgust after its surrender to the Goths {Get, xlv).

*Elaphius. *IV. xv. Friend. Resident in Rodez,
where he built a baptistery. Perhaps subsequently a bishop.
(Ruricius, Ep, II. vii ; Gallia Christiana^ iii, p. 593 ;
Tillemont, Me?n, xvi, p. 260.)

*Eleutherius. *VI. xi. Bishop. (Tillemont, Mem, xvi,
p. 232.)

Eminentius. IV. xvii. i . Friend of Arbogast.

Epiphanius. V. xvii. 10. Scriba or Secretary, either of
Filimatius or Sidonius.

*Eriphius. *V. xvii. Friend; of Lyons. Son-in-law of
Filimatius.

Eucherius. IV. iii. 7. St. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons,
previously monk at Lerins, D. 449. Author of various trea-
tises and homilies. Cf. Carm. xvi, 1. 115; Hist, litt, de la
France y ii, p. 275 ; Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux^ ii, p. 163.

^Eucherius. *III. viii: VII. ix. 18. Friend. Virillustris,

List of Correspondents ckvii

A man of integrity, for whom the decaying R°-- ^^J^^
found no important post. Sirmond conjectures h.m to be the
le Eucherius who! under Count Victorius when E„r.c had
seized Auvergne, was falsely accused, and put ^ death.
Sregory of Tou;s, Hist. Franc. II. xx ; TiUemont, Mem. xv,

^'Sphronius. *VII.viii;*IX.ii;IV.xxv... Bisbop
of Antun. His visit to ChMon with Patiens, described m
IV XXV must have taken place about 47°, when he was
advanced in years. Of his writings, there remains only
flener IrittenVintly with Lupus of Troyes to the B.shop o
Aneers on questions of ecclesiastical discipline. He died at
agSage\bout 476. iHut. litt. dela France. 11 p 465,
Chaix, ii, p. 74 ; D-hesne, Pastes epscopaux u p. 1 1?-)

Euric (Eoiicus, Evarix . VII. vi. 4; VIIL u^ix. 5. Cl.
T • = • TT i c, • IV viii. I ; VIII. ix. I. Kmg of the
Viligoths Murderer Ind successor of his brother Theo-
doric II. A bigoted Arian, conqueror, and energetic rulei,
whTextended his'territory from Septimania, until by the con-
quest of Auvergne and Berry, and the cession by Odovaka^
the last territory preserved to Rome m Provence, it em
braced tie whole of southern France outside the Burgiindian
dominions. Euric probably died in 484-5 >" ^^--J/ofe
year of his reign (Jornandes, Getica, c. Ivn), though Isidore
of Seville and Gregory of Tours give different dates.

Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 330- , . ,., .,„ ,. t vons

Eusebius. IV. i. 3. Teacher of philosophy at Lyons,
where he taught Sidonius and many of his friends.
Eustachius. VII.ii.4,9- Bishop of Marseilles
Eutropia. VI. ii. i, 4- A pious widow; possibly the
same celebrated in the Roman martyrology among sainted
widows on September 15. (Tillemont, Mem. xvi, 227.)

*Eutropius. *VI. vi. Bishop of Orange. See Acta
Sanctorum {^Uy 27), p. 699 ; Hist. litt. de la France, n,
o ATI- Duchesne, Pastes ipiscopatix, 1, p. 205-
^■*EutropitJS. *I.vi; nil. vi. Lifelong friend; mem-
ber of a noble family, distinguished for its official honours.
Became Prefect o£ Gaul. Cf. Chaix, u, p. 19-

clxviii List of Correspondents

Evanthius. V. xiii. i. An official of public works under
Seronatus.

*Evodius. *IV. viii. Petitioner at the court of Euric, to
whose queen, Ragnahild, he presented a silver cup.

*Explicius. *II. vii. A jurisconsult, to whom Sidonius
refers a dispute which his own efforts had failed to settle.

Faustinus. IV. iv. i ; vi. i. Friend of Sidonius from
his youth. Entered the Church, and perhaps became the
successor of Hermentarius at Velay. {Hist. HtL de la France^
ii, p. 551 ; cf. Chaix, ii, pp. 116, 118.)

Faustus. Born in Britain. Abbot of Lerins (433-4) for
twenty-seven years, where he established a school. Sub-
sequently Bishop of Riez (462). Preserved the ascetic habits
of monastic life (IX. iii). Celebrated for his learning and
eloquence. One of the four bishops nominated to treat with
Euric (see Leontius, Graecus, Basilius). Preached at the
dedication of Patiens' new church at Lyons (IX. iii). Pub-
lished a famous letter maintaining the materiality of the soul
(IV. iii ; Guizot, Hist, de la Civ. en France^ v. 165 f.), wrote
against the Arians, for which he was exiled by Euric to the
district of Limoges, where he enjoyed the intercourse of
Ruricius ; liberated in 484, and died at an advanced age
{c. 490). His writings, which give evidence of a modified
Pelagianism, were regarded as heretical after his death, but
were not condemned in his lifetime. Cf. Cariii. xvi. See
Hist, lift, de la France , ii. 587 ; Mon. Geri7i. Historica, viii
(Auctorum Antiquiss. pp. liv ff.) ; Chaix, i, pp. 248-9; ii,
p. 294; Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux, i, p. 284.

Felix, see Magnus Felix.

Ferreolus. VII. i. 7. Martyr : interred near Vienna.

Ferreolus, see Tonantius Ferreolus.

Filimatia (Philimatia). II. viii. Wife of Eriphius and
daughter of Filimatius (?).

*Filimatius (Philimatius, Philomathius). *I. iii ; V. xvii.
10. Friend; of Lyons. Father-in-law of Eriphius; father
of Filimatia (?) ; member of the Prefect's council. A man of
vivacious temperament and poetical tastes. Cf. Chaix, ii,
pp. 169, 297.

List of Correspondents clxix

♦Firminus. *IX. i, xvi. Friend. A native of Aries.
Incited Sidonius to publish the ninth book of the Letters.
Ennodius of Pavia praises his learning and literary style {^Ep,
I. viii). He was of a generous character, and assisted
St. Caesarius in a time of trouble. Cf. Hist, litt, de la France^
ii, p. 684.

*Florentinus. *IV. xix. Friend.

*Fonteius. *VI. vii ; *VII. ir. Bishop of Vaison from
about A.D. 450. Sidonius praises his charming character.
He seem.s to have exerted over the Burgundian princes an in-
fluence which enabled him to be of great service to the Gallo-
Romans of his diocese. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 106 ; Duchesne,
Pastes episcopaux^ i, p. 262.

*Fortunalis. *Vni. v. Friend. Lived in Spain (Tarra-
gona), and witnessed the conquest of Iberia by the Visigoths
in 478-80.

Fronto. IV. xxi. Grandfather of Aper {q. v.). Possibly
the Count twice sent as ambassador to the Suevi in Spain,
first by Valentinian, then by Avitus.

Grallicinus. VIII. xi. 3 (v. 39 of the poem). Bishop.

Gallus. VI. ix. A man living in the diocese of Troyes, whom
Sidonius persuaded to return to his wife. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 80.

*Gaudentms. *I. iv ; I. iii. 2 ; III. xii. 4. Friend.
Of tribunician rank. Became Vicarius of the Seven Provinces.
Called vene7'abilis in III. xii. 4.

*Gtelasius. *IX. XV ; IX. xvi. i. Friend.

Germanicus. IV. xiii. i. Resident at or near Chantelle in
the Bourbonnais, and a neighbour of Vectius. Described by
Sidonius as a juvenile sexagenarian. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 242.

Germanus. VIII. xv. i. Bishop of Auxerre.

Gerontius. V. ix. 1. Commander in Spain under the
'tyrant' Constantine {q.v.), but rose against Constans, the
tyrant's son, whom he drove from Spain into Gaul, and slew
at Vienne. He then besieged Constantine in Aries, but on
the arrival of Honorius' general Constantius, was abandoned
by his men, and flying to Spain, there perished (411). Cf.
Gregory of Tours, Hist, Franc, II. ix.

Gozolas. III. iv. I ; I V. V. I . A Jew.

clxx List of Correspondents

*GraeCUS. *VI. viii ; *VII. ii, vii, xi ; *IX. iv ; VII. vi. lo.
Bishop of Marseilles. Charged by Julius Nepos to negotiate
with Euric, together with Leontius of Aries, Basilius of Aix,
and Faustus of Riez. Cf. Introduction, p. xlii.

Gratiatiensis. I. xi. lo, 13. Vir illustris. Guest at the
banquet of Majorian.

Heliodorus. IV. x. i. Mentioned as JlHus meus^ but
probably no relation of Sidonius.

*Herenius (Heronius). *I. v, ix. Friend; of Lyons.
A cultivated man, interested in geographical and historical
questions, and a poet. {Hist, litt, de la France^ ii, p. 437.)

*Hesperius. *II. x; IV. xxii. i. Friend. Man of
letters ; also intimate with Leo.

Himerius. VII. xiii. i. A priest, or possibly bishop.
Son of Sulpicius, and pupil of Lupus at Troyes. {Hist, litt.
de la France^ ii, p. 490.)

*Hypatius. *III. v. Friend. A person with influence
in the neighbourhood of Ebreuil. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 149.

*Industrius. *IV. ix. Friend.

Injuriosus. IX. x. i. A dependant (clerk?) who left
Sidonius for Aprunculus, bishop of Langres.

Innocentius. VI. ix. 3. A vir spedabilis,

Johannes. II. v. i. A friend involved in legal difficul-
ties ; introduced by Sidonius to the jurisconsult Petronius.

Johannes. IV. xxv. 3. Bishop of Ch^lon, consecrated
by Patiens and Euphronius. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux^
ii, p. 192.

*Johannes. *VIII. ii. Friend. Grammarian, teaching
in Aquitaine under Visigothic rule.

Jovinus. V. ix. * Tyrant.' Assumed the purple while
Constantine was being besieged by Constantius at Aries (411).
Defeated and slain at Narbonne in 41 2 by Ataulf the Visigoth,
acting on behalf of Honorius. Cf. Carm. XXIII. i. 173.

Julianus. IX. v. Bishop. Perhaps of some see in
Gallia Narbonensis. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 149.

Julius Nepos. V. xvi. Cf. V. vi. 2, vii. i ; VIII. vii. 4.
Emperor, A. D. 474-5, in whose reign Auvergne was lost to
the empire. Cf. Introduction, p. xliii.

List of Correspondents clxxi

♦Justinus. *V. xxi. Friend. Brother of Sacerdos.
Their brotherly affection was celebrated. Cf. Cai^ni. xxiv.
26 ff.

Justus. V. xvii. 3. Saint. Bishop of Lyons, d. c, 390.
The church erected by Patiens on the site of the old church
of the Maccabees at Lyons was known by his name.

Justus. IL xii. 3. A doctor attending Severiana.

*Lampridius. *VIII. ix. ; VIIL xi. 3 ; IX. xiii. 2, 4.
Friend. Poet and orator of Bordeaux. A man of great
versatility, whom Fertig calls * the Goethe of his age \ He
ingratiated himself with Euric, and was probably thus
enabled to assist Sidonius in regaining his liberty. Murdered
by his household slaves. Cf. Hist, litt, de la France^ ii,

p. 494-

*Leo. *IV. xxii ; *VIII. iii ; IX. xiii. 2, xv. i. Minister
of Euric, A native of Narbonne and descendant of the
orator Fronto, whose talent he inherited. He also bore
a high reputation as poet {^Rex Castalii Chori^ IX. xiii),
philosopher, orator, and jurist : Appius Claudius himself
would be silent when Leo expounded the law of the Twelve
Tables {Carm, xxiii. 446). Though a Catholic, he was
selected by Euric as minister, in which capacity he doubtless
made easier the lot of many of his co-religionists. While
Sidonius was in banishment Leo encouraged him to occupy
himself with the life of Apollonius of Tyana ; and the inter-
cession of the powerful minister must have contributed to his
release. Leo was still living about 483. Cf. Carm. ix. 314,
XIV, xxiii. 446 ff. ; Hist. Hit. de la France^ ii>pp- 627 ff.

*Leontius. *VL iii. Bishop of Aries, and friend of
Pope Hilary, who confirmed the privileges of his see as the
first in Gaul. Friend of Faustus, Felix, and Ruricius (cf.
Ruricius, Ep. I. xv). Arranged terms of peace with Euric
in company with Basilius, Graecus, and Faustus. Cf.
Chaix, ii, p. 189.

Leontius, see Pontius Leontius.

Licinianus. III. vii. 2; V. xvi. i. Quaestor; envoy
from Julius Nepos to Gaul at the time of Euric's invasion of
Auvergne.

clxxii List of Correspondents

Livia, VIII. xi. 3 (I. 34 of the poem). Mother of
Pontius Leontius {q. v.),

*Lucontius (Lucentius). *IV. xviii. Friend.

*Lupus, St., d. 479. *VI. i, iv, ix ; *VIII. xi ; *IX. xi ;
IV. xvii. 3; VII. xiii. i; VIII. xiv. 2, xv. i. Saint. Born
at Toul. Bishop of Troyes. In 451 he persuaded Attila to
spare the city. After separating from his wife Pimeniola,
sister of St. Hilarius, resided at Lerins first as a monk under
Honoratus, subsequently as abbot. (Cf. Carm. xvi. 11.)
Summoned to the see of Troyes in 426 or 427. Opponent
of Pelagianism. On Sidonius' election to Clermont, Lupus
wrote him a still extant letter of congratulation, the terms of
which seem to imply a previous intimacy in spite of their
disparity in age. Lupus was no less eminent for his learning
than for the austerity of his life. (IV. xvii.) Bollandists,
Acta Sanctortim, July 29 ; Chaix, i, p. 442 : Hist. litt. de
la France, ii, pp. 486 ff. ; Duchesne, Pastes episcopaux, ii,
p. 449.

*LupUS. *VIII. xi. Friend. Rhetor, residing at Peri-
gueux or Agen, the former being his native city. A man of
literary taste with a predilection for science. Cf. Hist. litt.
de la France^ ii, p. 583.

Magnus. I. xi. 10. Senator of Narbonne. Consul in
460. Prefect of Gaul in 469. Father of Probus and Magnus
Felix, both of whom were friends of Sidonius. Uncle of
Camillus. A great personage in Gaul, where he was widely
respected for his integrity and practical wisdom. Cf. Carm,
XIV. xxiii. 455 ; xxiv. 90.

^Magnus Felix. '^II. iii ; *III. iv, vii; *IV. v, x.
Friend. Son of Magnus and brother of Probus. * Patrician.'
Lived at Narbonne. Schoolfellow of Sidonius, to whom the
latter dedicated his poems. Cf. Carm, ix. 330, xxiv. 91 ;
Chaix, ii, p. 294.

Majorianus, Julius Valerius. I. xi. 2 ; IX. xiii. 4.
Roman Emperor. Distinguished soldier and comrade of
Aetius and Ricimer. Raised to the throne by the latter in
457. Pardoned Sidonius for his share in the insurrection of
Lyons after the deposition of Avitus, and during his visit to

List of Correspondents clxxiii

Gaul treated him with distinction. Majorian was a wise
ruler, who sought to stem the progress of imperial decay ; he
defeated the Vandals in Italy, but his preparations for an
attack upon them in Africa were thwarted by the burning of
his fleet, and, having incurred the enmity of Ricimer, he was
assassinated by his own troops at Tortona in 461. The
Panegyric on Majorian is Carni, v. Cf. Introduction, p. xxi,

Mamertus. *VII. i ; IV. xi. 6 ; V. xiv. 2 ; Saint.
Bishop of Vienne. Brother of Claudianus Mamertus. Intro-
duced, at a time of public disaster, the Rogations, which
were afterwards adopted by Sidonius at Clermont. Incurred
the displeasure of Pope Hilary in connexion with the
bishopric of Die. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 112; Duchesne, i^(3!j/^j"
episcopaux^ i, p. 205.

*Mamertus, Claudianus. *IV. iii; IV. xi. i ; V. ii. i.
Writer of IV. ii. Priest, Brother of St. Mamertus, bishop
of Vienne. Learned in philosophy, and author of a well-
known treatise, De Natura Aniinae^ in three books, a reply
to a letter of Faustus, Bishop of Riez (^. v, ), maintaining the
material nature of the soul. Friend of Salvian, who dedicated
to him his work on Ecclesiastes. Cf. Guizot, Hist, de la
Civ. en France, i, pp. 166 ff. ; Chaix, i, p. 361.

Marcellinus. II. xiii. i. A jurisconsult of Narbonne,
described in Carnu xxiii, 1, 465, as of a frank outspoken
character, but amiable and a man of many friends, among
whom was Serranus {q. v.).

Marcellinus. I. xi. Distinguished soldier. Served under
Aetius, after whose death he withdrew to Dalmatia and estab-
lished a practically independent state. On the death of Avitus
the diadem was apparently offered him by a party in Gaul, to
which Sidonius belonged, and which was subdued by Majorian.
Cf. Introduction, p. xx.

*Maurusius. *II. xiv. Landed proprietor, and friend.

Maximus. VIII. xiv. 2. Abbot of Lerins, and after-
wards Bishop of Riez. Cf. Carm, xvi, 11. 112, 128.

Maximus. IV. xxiv. Friend. Formerly in the Palatine
service, subsequently a cleric, possibly bishop, living near
Toulouse. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 235.

clxxiv List of Correspondents

*Megetllius. '^VII. iii. Bishop, possibly of Belley.
(Sirmond.)

Megethius. VIII, xiv. 8. Cleric. Acting as messenger
between Principius and Sidonius. Cf. IX. viii. i.

Menstruanus. II. vi. i. Friend of Sidonius and
Pegasius.

Modaharius. VII. vi. 2. A Visigothic Arian confuted
by Basilius.

*Montius. *I. xi. Friend.

Namatitis. *VIII. vi. Friend. ' Admiral ' of Euric on
the West Coast. He had a villa at Saintes, and apparently
an estate in Oleron. Studied architecture. {Hist, litt, de la
France^ ii, p. 576.)

Nicetius, Flavins. VIII. vi. 2. Cf. III. i. 3; VIII. vi.
8. Advocate of Lyons. Chosen by common consent to
deliver a panegyric at the inauguration of the Consul Astyrius
at Aries in 449. An admirer of Sidonius* writings. {Hist,
litt. de la France^ ii, p. 500.)

*Nimecliius. *VIII. xiii. Bishop of Nantes. He was
present at the Council of Vannes in 465.

*Nympliidius. *V. ii. Friend. Grandfather of Pole-
mius. Cf. Carm, xv. 200.

Optantius. II. iv. 2, 3. Vir clarissimus. The deceased
father of a girl demanded in marriage by Proiectus, to whom
Sidonius gives a letter of introduction.

*Oresius. *IX. xii. Friend ; living in Spain.

Paeonius. I. xi. A parvenu and ambitious demagogue.
During the interregnum, after the death of Avitus, he usurped
the position of Prefect of Gaul. In this capacity he made
himself essential to the young nobles who participated in the
* conspiracy of Marcellinus '. After his term of office he was
given senatorial rank, but did not succeed, like Sidonius, in
conciliating the favour of Majorian; to this cause perhaps
was due the enmity which he displayed in the affair of the
anonymous satire. Cf. Introduction, p. xxii.

*Pannychius. *V. xiii; VII. ix. 18. Friend. Vir
illustris. Living at Bourges.

* Papianilla. *V. xvi. Cf. II. ii. 3, xii. 2 ; V. xvi. 3 ;

List of Correspondents clxxv

Carm, xviii. i. Wife. Daughter of Avitus and sister of
Ecdicius {q. v.), Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist, Franc, II. xxi,
and Introduction, p. xiii.

*Pastor. *V. XX. Friend,

Pateminus. IV. xvi. i. Bearer of a letter from
Ruricius.

*Patiens. *VI. xii. ; 11. x. 2; IV. xxv. i, 3, 5. Cf.
III. xii. 3. Saint. Archbishop of Lyons from before 470.
A man of great wealth, which he employed in the building
and restoration of churches and in the relief of the needy in
times of national distress. (Gregory of Tours, Hist, Franc.
II. xxiv.) Sidonius is our chief authority for Patiens. Cf.
Acta Sanctorum f September 11 ; Hist, litt, de la France,
ii, p. 54; Chaix, ii, p. 304; Duchesne, Fastes ipiscopaux^
ii, p. 163.

Paulus. IV. XXV. I. Bishop of Chalon.

Paulus, I. ix. I. Of prefect orian rank. Host of Sidonius
at Rome.

Paulus. II. vii. Party to a dispute with Alethius, which
Sidonius refers for settlement to Explicius.

*Pegasius. *I. vi. Friend.

^Perpetuus. *VII. ix. ; IV. xviii. 4, 5, &c. Bishop of
Tours. Soon after his accession he convened a council at
Tours to regulate ecclesiastical discipline and remedy abuse ;
four years later he summoned another at Vannes. His
devotion to the memory of St. Martin led him to erect the
basilica described by Sidonius in place of the earlier church.
He was an intimate friend of Euphronius, whom he survived.
Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist, Franc. II. xiv ; X. xxxi ; Hist,
litt. de la France^ ii, pp. 619 ff, ; Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux,
ii, p. 300.

*Petreius. *IV. xi. Friend. Nephew of Claudianus
Mamertus.

♦Petronius. *II. v ; * V. i ; *VIII. i ; I. vii. 4 ; VIII.
xvi. I. Eminent jurisconsult of Aries and lover of letters.
Associated with Tonantius Ferreolus in the impeachment of
Arvandus. Persuaded Sidonius to publish the eighth book
of the Letters. Hist. litt. de la France^ ii, pp. 581 ff.

clxxvi List of Correspondents

Petrus. IX. xiii. 4; xv. i. Bom in North Italy.
Secretary {f?tagister epistolarui7i) of Majorian. Sidonius,
in the Prologue to the Panegyric in honour of that
Emperor, describes Petrus as his Maecenas ; and it was
probably owing to the intercession of this friend that he
made his peace after the rebellion at Lyons. {^Carni. v. 569-
71 ; ix. 305.) Petrus had also gifts of eloquence and style,
and was no mean pcet. After the assassination of Majorian
he devoted himself to literary interests, and is said to have
died in 473 or 474. {Hist. Hit, de la France, ii, p. 439.)

Petrus. VII. xi. 2. Of tribunician rank.

*Philagrius (Filagrius). *VII, xiv. Cf. II. iii. i.
Known to Sidonius by reputation only as a man of culture
and erudition. Connected with the families of Avitus and
Magnus Felix. Cf. Carm, vii. 156, xxiv. 93 ; Hist, litt, de
la France y ii, pp. 41, 576.

*Placidus. *III. xiv. Friend ; of Grenoble. A man of
literary tastes, who appreciated the writings of Sidonius.

*Polemius. *IV. xiv. Friend. Descendant of Tacitus.
Prefect of Gaul. Of philosophical tastes, and a student of
Plato. Cf. Car7n. xiv (an epithalamium for the marriage
of Polemius and Araneola). Cf. also Chaix, i, p. 347 ;
ii. 254; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 514 ff.

Pontius Leontius. VIII. xi. 3 ; xii. 5. Of Bor-
deaux, in the neighbourhood of which was situated his
fine villa, Burgus. A personage of great importance in
Aquitaine {^Facile pi^iimis Aquitanoruni). Sidonius has
celebrated the elegance and hospitality of Burgus in his
twenty-second poem. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 409.

Pontius Paulinus. VIII. xii. 5. Son of Pontius
Leontius. Friend. Native of Aquitaine. A poet, chiefly
devoting himself to religious subjects. Cf. Carm, ix. 304 ;
Tillemont, Meinoires, xvi, p. 404 ; Hist, litt, de la France, ii,
p. 470.

*Potentinus. *V. xi. Friend. Regarded by Sidonius
as the model for his young son Apollinaris.

*Pragmatius. *VI. ii. Bishop. Probably not Prag-
matjus of Autun. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 97.

List of Correspondents clxxvii

Pragmatius. V. x. i, 2. A man of eloquence and
personal charm, adopted as son-in-law by Priscus Valerianus.
Cf. Hist, litt. de la France, ii, pp. 499, 580.

*Principius. *VIIL xiv ; *IX. viii. Bishop of Soissons.
Elder brother of St. Remi. Cf. Hist, litt* de la France^ ii,
p. 668.

*Probus. *IV. i. Friend from schooldays. Husband
of Eulalia, cousin of Sidonius; elder brother of Magnus
Felix {q, v,)^ and son of Magnus. A man of literary taste
and precocious ability. Cf. Carm.xyi* 329-34; xxiv. 95-8;
Hist, litt, de la France, ii, p. 649.

*Proculus. *IV. xxiii; IX. xv. Friend. Of Ligurian
origin ; poet and man of letters. {Hist, litt, de la France, ii,

p. 538.)

Proculus. IX. ii. I. A deacon.

Proiectus. II. iv. i. Vir clarissimtts. Betrothed to the
daughter of Optantius, and introduced by Sidonius to his
friend Sagittarius (or Syagrius).

Promotus. VIII. xiii. 3. A Jew.

^Prosper. *VIII. xv. Bishop of Orleans. Only known
from this letter and from his mention by Bede. Invited
Sidonius, at the time of his exile, to write a history of Attila's
attack on Orleans. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux, ii, p. 456.

Prudens. VI. iv. 2. Witness to the sale of a slave.

*Pudens. *V. xix. Friend.

Ragnahild. IV. viii. 5. Queen of Euric. Her name
is only known through Sidonius.

*Remigius (Remi). *IX. vii. Cf. VIII. xiv. * Apostle
of the Franks.' Saint. Bishop of Reims. Born c. 458, in or
near Laon ; son of Count Emilius and Celinia, and brother of
Principius. Elected at an early age to the see of Reims by
popular compulsion {Raptus potitis quam electus — Hincmar).
Baptized Clovis in 496, using on this occasion the famous
words bidding the King adore what he had burned and burn
what he had adored. Author of Addresses {Declamationes^,
highly praised by Sidonius, but no longer extant. Cf. Hist,
litt, de la France, iii, p. 156 ; Chaix, ii, p. 88.

Ricinier. I. v. 10; ix. i. The famous 'king-maker',
646.22 I ni

clxxvlii List of Correspondents

who raised emperors to the throne (Majorian, Severus) or
deposed them (Avitus), but never assumed the diadem him-
self. He was the son of a Suevic father and a Gothic mother
(cf. Carm. ii. 361 ff.), and comrade of Majorian {Carm. v,
267). He married the daughter of Anthemius (L v), but
quarrelled with that Emperor, and a war ensuing, died shortly
after his antagonist. Cf. Introduction, p. xix.

Riochatus. IX. ix. A priest (or bishop) and monk
{antistes ac rnonachtis)^ who visited Clermont, bearing with
him works by Faustus of Riez.

*Riotlaamus. *III. ix. Commander of the Bretons
engaged to join the Empire in resisting the advance of the
Visigoths. He engaged Euric before Roman support could
reach him and was defeated by that king at Bourg-de-Deols on
the Indre, whereupon he took refuge with the Burgundians.
Cf. Introduction, p. xxxvi.

Roscia. V. xvi. 5. Daughter of Sidonius and Papianilla.
Cf. Introduction, p. xiv.

*Ruricius. *IV. xvi ; *V. xv ; *VIII. x. Friend.
Member of a patrician family connected with the Gens
Anicia. Married, before 470, Iberia, daughter of the
Arvernian Ommatius, Sidonius writing their epithalamium
{Carm. xi). After some years, he renounced the world for
a life of piety. In 484 he became Bishop of Limoges.
Author of two books of Letters, in which an imitation of
Sidonius is sometimes apparent. These mostly date from
the time previous to his episcopate, and though exemplary in
their piety, and showing an admirable character, contain little
of interest for the historian. Of them Bk. I. ix, xvi are
addressed to Sidonius. {Hist. Hit, de la France^ iii,
pp. 49-56.) See also Krusch, Mon. Germ. Hisiorica, viii
(Auctorum Antiquissimorum, pp. Ixii ff.).

*Rusticus, Decimus. V. ix. i. Succeeded his friend
Apollinaris as Prefect of Gaul at the time of the tyrant
Constantine (409). Captured and slain in Auvergne by the
generals of Honorius a few years later. Grandfather of
Aquilinus. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc, II. c. ix.

Rusticus. V. ix. 2. Son of the preceding. Tribune and

List of Correspondents clxxix

notary under Honorius, with the father of Sidonius, and
subsequently a vicarius.

Rusticus. V. ix. 4. Son of Aquilinus (?).

*Rusticus (Rusticius). *II. xi; VIII. xi. 3 (v. 36 of the
poem). Friend ; living near Bordeaux. {HisL litt. de la
France^ ii, p. 428.)

*SacerclOS. *V. xxi. Friend. Brother of Justinus (^.z*.).
Cf. Carvi. xxiv. 27.

^Sagittarius (?). *II. iv. Friend. The MS. C gives
the name of the recipient of this letter as Syagrius.

*Salonius. * VII. xv. Friend ; living at Vienne. Some have
considered him to be the son of St. Eucherius of the same name,
who was a bishop when Sidonius was quite young, but this view
is not universally accepted. {Hist. litt. de la France ^ ii, p. 433 ;
Tillemont, Memoires, xvi, p. 207 ; Sirmond, note to VII. xv.)

*Sapaudus. *V. x. Friend. Rhetor of Vienne. For
his studies he received the advice of Claudianus Mamertus,
and sought to inspire himself from the earlier Roman writers.
{Hist. litt. de la France^ ii, p. 498.)

*Secundinus. *V. viii ; II. x. 3; V. viii. i. Poet of
Lyons. Associated with Constantius and Sidonius in writing
metrical inscriptions for the church erected by Patiens. Wrote
a satire exposing the merciless cruelty of Gundobad, one of
the Burgundian * tetrarchs ', to his brothers and their families.
{Hist, litt. de la France ^ ii, p. 502.)

*Secundus. *II. xii. Nephew of Sidonius, or grandson
of one of his uncles (Mommsen, Praefatio^ p. xlvii).

Seronatus. II. i. i ; V. xiii. i, 4; VII. vii. 2. Perhaps
Governor of Aquitanica Prima (cf. Introduction, p. xxxviii).
He was guilty of more open treason and even worse oppression
than his predecessor. The people of Auvergne brought him
to justice, and he received the penalty of death. Cf. Tillemont,
Hist, des Efnpereurs, vi, p. 352 ; Chaix, i, p. 377.

*Serranus. *1I. xiii. Friend; living at Narbonne.
Adherent of the Emperor Petronius Maximus. Friend of
Marcellinus.

Severiana. II. xii. Daughter (?) of Sidonius. Cf.
Introduction, p. xiv.

clxxx List of Correspondents

Severianus. IX. xiii. 4 ; xv. i. A poet of repute in
Gaul, considered to rank with Domnulus, Lampridius and
Sidonius. In his prose work he is compared by the latter
to Quintilian. Cf. Carvi, ix. 312 ; Hist. Hit. de la France^
ii, p. 509.

Severinus. I. xi. 10, 16. Consul of the year 461.
Guest at the banquet of Majorian.

Sigismer. IV. xx. A young Frankish (?) prince. Cf.
Introduction, p. xciii.

Simplicius. VII. vi. 9. A bishop.

Simplicius. VII. viii. 2, 3 ; ix. 16, 25. Son of Eulogius
and son-in-law of Palladius, both bishops of Bourges.
Nominated by Sidonius to the same see. (Chaix, ii, p. 20.)

*Simplicius. *V. iv ; III. xi ; IV. iv, vii, xii ; VII. iv.
Perhaps brother of Apollinaris {q.v.).

*Sulpicius. *VII. xiii. Friend.

Syagrius, Flavins Afranius (I). I. vii. 4 ; V. xvii. 4.
Cf. V. V. I ; VIII, viii. 3. Of Lyons. General of Valentinian ;
subsequently Praefecttis Praetorio in Gaul and consul in 382.
Buried at Lyons, where his monument is mentioned by
Sidonius (as above). His daughter Papianilla was the mother
of Tonantius Ferreolus {q-v.).

*Syagrius. *V. v ; *VIII. viii. Great-grandson of the pre-
ceding. Man of letters. At one period living much at the Burgun-
dian court; at another on his estate of Taionnacus near Autun.
It seems best to follow the Benedictine Histoire littiraire de
la F7'ance^ ii, p. 651, in regarding this personage as distinct
from Syagrius, son of Aegidius of Soissons, defeated by Clovis
in 486. Sirmond and others, however, regard V. v. at least,
if not both letters, as written to that Syagrius. The objection
to this view is that the ruler of Soissons would hardly have
been able to live among Burgundians or in a country-house so
far away from his proper sphere of interest.

Symmachus Quintus Aurelius. I. i. i ; II. x. 5 ; cf.
VIII. X. I. Flourished in the second half of the fourth century.
Consul 391. Famous as an orator, though most of his speeches
are lost. His Letters survive in ten books, and are written in
a style which compared with that of Sidonius is simple and

List of Correspondents clxxxi

direct. The best known is that relating to the proposed
restoration of the altar of Victory in the Senate. Cf. Cai'm,
ix. 304.

*Tetradius. *III. x. Friend. A jurisconsult of Aries.
Cf. Carm. xxiv. 80-3 ; Hist, litt, de la France ^ ii, pp. 577-8.

*Thaumastus. *I. vii; I. vii. 4; V. vi. i. Friend.
Brother of Apollinaris. Associated with Tonantius Ferreolus
in the impeachment of Arvandus. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 85.

Theodoric II (Theudericus). I. ii. i ; II. i. 3. King of
the Visigoths (453-66). Son of the Theodoric who fell in the
battle of Maurica. Succeeded in 453 after the assassination of
his brother Thorismond. Supported the election of Avitus as
emperor, having been acquainted with him in former years,
and on his deposition and death opposed Majorian, by whom
he was defeated before Aries. Afterwards once more recon-
ciled to the Empire, but assassinated by his brother Euric in
466. Cf. Carm. vii. 262, &c. ; and see Introduction, p. xvi.

Theodorus. III. x. i. Vir darissimus. Introduced by
Sidonius to the jurisconsult Tetradius.

*Theoplastus. *VI.v. Bishop of Geneva (?), (Duchesne,
Fastes episcopaux^ i, p. 227.)

Thorismond (Thorismodus). VII. xii. 3. King of the
Visigoths. Son of Theodoric I, who died in the great battle
of Maurica, and brother of Theodoric II, by whom he was
assassinated in 453. Besieged Aries soon after the defeat of
Attila, but was induced to withdraw through the practical
diplomacy of Tonantius Ferreolus {q. v.).

'^Tonantius Ferreolus. *VII. xii. i ; I. vii. 4; II. ix. i.
Grandson of the Consul Afranius Syagrius, and through his
mother, Papianilla, connected with the Aviti. An important
Gallo-Roman noble, son of a Prefect of the Gauls, himself
three times Prefect, and Patrician. With Avitus, he was
instrumental in arranging the co-operation of the Visigoths
with the Romans, which resulted in the defeat of Attila at
Maurica by Aetius. He was gifted with diplomatic powers
which enabled him to save the town of Aries when besieged
by the new Visigothic king Thorismond, at the trifling cost
of a dinner (VII. xii), but his qualities as a strong and just

clxxxii List of Correspondents

administrator led to his selection, after his official career, as
the principal accuser of Arvandus (I. vii). His tastes were
cultivated ; cf. the description which Sidonius gives of his
country-house Prusianum (II. ix). Born about 420, he died
about 485, and was thus a lifelong contemporary of his friend
Sidonius. Cf. Car?n. xxiv, 1. 36 ; Hist, litt. de la France ^
iii, p. 540.

*Tonantius. *IX. xiii; IX. xv. Son of Tonantius
Ferreolus. Cf. Cartn. xxiv. 34.

*Trygetius. *VIII. xii. According to Sirmond, the
same Trygetius sent on an embassy to Attila with St. Leo and
Avienus. At the time of Sidonius* visit to his friends at
Bordeaux, Trygetius was living at his house at Bazas. Cf.
Chaix, ii, pp. 225-6.

*Tumus. *IV. xxiv. Friend. Son of Turpio.

Turpio. IV. xxiv. P'riend ; of tribunician rank. On his
death-bed requested Sidonius to help his family in the matter of
a debt to Maximus. See Turnus.

Valerianus, Priscus. V. x. 2. Prefect of Gaul, and
relative of the Emperor Avitus. Father-in-law of Pragma-
tius. Consulted by Sidonius on the merits of his Panegyric of
Avitus. Cf. Carm. viii. See also Hist, lilt, de la France j ii,
p. 360 ; Chaix, ii, p. 183.

*Vectius (Vettius). '^IV. xiii ; IV. ix. i. Friend. A
noble living in the world, but practising austerities in secret.
His home was near Chantelle in the Bourbonnais. (Chaix,
ii, p. 239.)

Victorius. VII. xvii. I. Cf. IV. x. 2. Appointed
Count of Auvergne by Euric, after he obtained possession of
that country in 475. Probably the patronus of IV. x. 2.
Gregory of Tours, who describes him as duke, gives him
a much worse character than Sidonius {Hist. Franc. II. xx.
and De gloria Confessoriun^ c. xxxiii).

Victorius. V. xxi. Uncle of Sacerdos and Justin.
Sirmond thinks it probable that the person to whom this
letter is addressed is Victorius of Aquitaine, who in 457 under
the Consulate of Constantine and Rufus composed the
Paschal Cycle, and had some repute as a poet (cf. V. x). His

List of Correspondents clxxxiii

home was among the hills of the Gabalitani, now the district
of La Lozere. {Hist, litt, de la France, ii, pp. 419, 424.) The
poet and the author of the Cycle are distinguished.

♦Vincentius. *I. vii. Friend.

Vindicius. V. i. 2; VII. iv. i. Friend. A deacon of
Auvergne, who assisted Sidonius in his literary work.

*Volusianus. *VII. xvii; IV. xviii. 2. Intimate friend.
At Sidonius' request he assisted with advice and support
Auxanius (^. ^.)> successor of St. Abraham, as abbot of the
monastery of St. Cirgues, near Clermont. On the death of
Perpetuus he became bishop of Tours. (Chaix, ii, pp. 222,
224.)

BOOK I

I

"To his friend Constantius

C, A.D. 477

With all the Influence you derive from a genius for i
sound advice, you have long urged me to correct, revise,
and bring together In one volume the more finished of
those occasional letters which matters, men, and times
have drawn from me : I am to set presumptuous foot
where Symmachus of the ample manner, and Pliny of
the perfected art have gone before. Of Cicero as letter- 2
writer I had best be dumb ; not Julius TItlanus himself,
In his Letters of Famous Women, could worthily repro-
duce that model ; ^ he tried to imitate a style which
was not of his time, and Fronto's other pupils,^ in their
jealousy, called him ' ape of orators ' for his pains. I
have always been horribly conscious how far I fall short
of these great examples ; I have consistently claimed
for each the privilege of his own period and genius.
But I have done your will ; here you have the letters, 3
not merely to revise, for that is nothing, but to polish
and, as the phrase goes, clear of lees. Do I not know
you devoted not to studies only, but to the studious
too ? Which devotion now makes you launch me,
despite my fears, upon this deep main of ambition.
1 had been safer had I breathed no word about these 4

546.22 I B

2 Book I

trifles, content with the reception of my poems,^ which
good luck surely helped to recognition rather than skill
of mine. Such fame as I have should be to me an
anchor cast in the haven of safe repute. I ought to be
content with it after the envious snarls of all the Scyllas
which my ship has passed. But if the tooth of jealousy
spares these extravagances of mine, volume shall follow
upon volume, all full-brimming with my most copious
flow of correspondence. Farewell.

II

To [Jns brother-in-law'] A^icola^

A.D. 454(?)

You have often begged a description of Theodoric
the Gothic king, whose gentle breeding fame commends
to every nation ; you want him in his quantity and
quality, in his person, and the manner of his existence.
I gladly accede, as far as the limits of my page allow,
and highly approve so fine and ingenuous a curiosity.

Well, he is a man worth knowing, even by those who
cannot enjoy his close acquaintance, so happily have
Providence and Nature joined to endow him with the
perfect gifts of fortune ; his way of life is such that not
even the envy which lies in wait for kings can rob him
2 of his proper praise. And first as to his person. He
is well set up, in height above the average man, but
below the giant. His head is round, with curled hair
retreating somewhat from brow to crown. His nervous

* Translated by Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, ii.
352. The king here described is Theodoric II, successor of
Thorismund, predecessor of Euric.

Letter 11 3

neck is free from disfiguring knots.^ The eyebrows are
bushy and arched ; when the hds droop, the lashes
reach almost half-way down the cheeks. The upper
ears are buried under overlying locks, after the fashion
of his race. The nose is finely aquiline ; the lips are
thin and not enlarged by undue distension of the mouth.
Every day the hair springing from his nostrils is cut
back ; that on the face springs thick from the hollow
of the temples, but the razor has not yet come upon his
cheek, and his barber is assiduous in eradicating the
rich growth on the lower part of the face.^ Chin, 3
throat, and neck are full, but not fat, and all of fair
complexion ; seen close, their colour is fresh as that of
youth ; they often flush, but from modesty, and not from
anger. His shoulders are smooth, the upper- and fore-
arms strong and hard ; hands broad, breast prominent ;
waist receding. The spine dividing the broad expanse
of back does not project, and you can see the springing
of the ribs ; the sides swell with salient muscle, the
well-girt flanks are full of vigour. His thighs are like
hard horn ; the knee-joints firm and masculine ; the
knees themselves the comeliest and least wrinkled in
the world. A full ankle supports the leg, and the foot
is small to bear such mighty limbs.

Now for the routine of his public life. Before day- 4
break he goes with a very small suite to attend the ser-
vice of his priests,^ He prays with assiduity, but, if
I may speak in confidence, one may suspect more of
habit than conviction in this piety. Administrative
duties of the kingdom take up the rest of the morning.
Armed nobles stand about the royal seat ; the mass of
guards in their garb of skins are admitted that they may

B 2

4 Book I

be within call, but kept at the threshold for quiet's sake ;
only a murmur of them comes in from their post at the
doors, between the curtain and the outer barrier.^ And
now the foreign envoys are introduced. The king hears
them out, and says little ; if a thing needs more dis-
cussion he puts it off, but accelerates matters ripe for
dispatch. The second hour arrives ; he rises from
the throne to inspect his treasure-chamber or stable.

5 If the chase is the order of the day, he joins it, but
never carries his bow at his side, considering this dero-
gatory to royal state. When a bird or beast is marked
for him, or happens to cross his path, he puts his hand
behind his back and takes the bow from a page with
the string all hanging loose ; for as he deems it a boy's
trick to bear it in a quiver, so he holds it effeminate to
receive the weapon ready strung. When it is given him,
he sometimes holds it in both hands and bends the
extremities towards each other ; at others he sets it,
knot-end downward, against his lifted heel, and runs
his finger up the slack and wavering string. After
that, he takes his arrows, adjusts, and lets fly. He
will ask you beforehand what you would like him to
transfix ; you choose, and he hits. If there is a miss
through cither's error, your vision will mostly be at
fault, and not the archer's skill.

6 On ordinary days, his table resembles that of a private
person. The board does not groan beneath a mass of
dull and unpolished silver set on by panting servitors ;
the weight lies rather in the conversation than in the
plate ; there is either sensible talk or none. The
hangings ^ and draperies used on these occasions are
sometimes of purple silk, sometimes only of linen ; art,

Letter II f

not costliness, commends the fare, as spotlessness rather
than bulk the silver. Toasts are few, and you will
oftener see a thirsty guest impatient, than a full one
refusing cup or bowl. In short, you will find elegance
of Greece, good cheer of Gaul, Italian nimbleness, the
state of public banquets with the attentive service of
a private table, and everywhere the discipline of a king's
house. What need for me to describe the pomp of his
feast days ? No man is so unknown as not to know
of them. But to my theme again. The siesta after 7
dinner is always slight, and sometimes intermitted.
When inclined for the board-game,^ he is quick
to gather up the dice, examines them with care,
shakes the box with expert hand, throws rapidly,
humorously apostrophizes them, and patiently waits the
issue. Silent at a good throw, he makes merry over
a bad, annoyed by neither fortune, and always the
philosopher. He is too proud to ask or to refuse
a revenge ; he disdains to avail himself of one if offered ;
and if it is opposed will quietly go on playing. You
effect recovery of your men without obstruction on his
side ; he recovers his without collusion upon yours.^
You see the strategist when he moves the pieces ; his
one thought is victory. Yet at play he puts off a little 8
of his kingly rigour, inciting all to. good fellowship and
the freedom of the game : I think he is afraid of being
feared. Vexation in the man whom he beats delights
him ; he will never believe that his opponents have not
let him win unless their annoyance proves him really
victor. You would be surprised how often the pleasure
born of these little happenings may favour the march of
great affairs. Petitions that some wrecked influence

6 Book I

had left derelict come unexpectedly to port ; I myself am
gladly beaten by him when I have a favour to ask,
since the loss of my game may mean the gaining of my

Q cause. About the ninth hour, the burden of govern-
ment begins again. Back come the importunates,
back the ushers to remove them ; on all sides buzz the
voices of petitioners, a sound which lasts till evening,
and does not diminish till interrupted by the royal
repast ; even then they only disperse to attend their
various patrons among the courtiers, and are astir till
bedtime. Sometimes, though this is rare, supper is
enlivened by sallies of mimes, but no guest is ever
exposed to the wound of a biting tongue. Withal
there is no noise of hydraulic organ,^ or choir with its
conductor intoning a set piece ; you will hear no players
of lyre or flute, no master of the music, no girls with
cithara or tabor ; the king cares for no strains but those
which no less charm the mind with virtue than the ear

10 with melody. When he rises to withdraw, the treasury
watch begins its vigil ; armed sentries stand on guard
during the first hours of slumber. But I am wandering
from my subject. I never promised a whole chapter
on the kingdom, but a few words about the king.
I must stay my pen"; you asked for nothing more than
one or two facts about the person and the tastes of
Theodoric ; and my own aim was to write a letter,
not a history. Farewell.

Letter III 7

III
To his friend Filimatius

A. D. 467

Indict me now by the laws against intrigue/ degrade i
me from the Senate for keeping patient eyes on the
promotion to which, after all, birth gives me claim,
since my own sire and my wife's, my grandsire and
his sire too before him were urban and praetorian
prefects, or held high rank in court and army.^ If 2
it comes to that, consider our friend Gaudentius, who
but now of tribune's rank, towers in the dignity of the
Vicariate above the unenterprising sloth of our good
citizens.^ Of course our young nobles grumble at his
passing over their heads ; as for him, his one sentiment
is satisfaction. And they now respect a man scorned
till yesterday ; amazed at such a sudden rise, they look
up to one as magistrate on whom as neighbour they
looked down. He for his part sets his crier to stun
the ears of his drowsy detractors; though envy goads
them to hostility they always find a friendly bench
reserved for them in court.'^ You too had best make 3
good the loss of your old office by the membership of
the prefect's council now offered you ; if you fail to do
so, if you sit without the advantage which such a position
confers, you will be set down as one only fit to represent
a Vicarius. Farewell.

8 Book I

IV
To his friend Gaudentius

A. D. 467

1 Congratulations, most honoured friend ; the rods
of office are yours by merit. To win your dignities
you did not parade your mother's income, or the
largess of your ancestors, your wife's jewels, or your
paternal inheritance. In place of all this, it was your
obvious sincerity, your proven zeal, your admitted social
charm which won you favour in the imperial household.^
O thrice and four times happy man, whose rise means
joy to friends, gall to enemies, and glory to your own
posterity, to say nothing of the example given to the
active and alert, and the spur applied to the listless and
the slow. The man who tries to emulate you, be his
spirit what it will, may haply owe the last success to
his own exertions, but will certainly owe his start

2 to your example. I fancy I see among the envious,
with all deference to better citizens be it said, the old
miserable arrogance, the old scorn of service affected
by men too slack to serve, men lost to all ambition,
who crown their cups with sophistries about the charm
of a free life out of office, their motive a base indolence,
and not the love of the ideal which they pretend. . . .

3 [Such a] taste the wisdom of our fathers rejected,
for fear that boys might take advantage of it ; they
likened school orations to a textile fabric, and perfectly
understood that, in the case of youthful eloquence, it is
harder to spin out the terse than cut the exuberant short.
So much for this subject ; for the rest, remember that

Letter IV 9

if Providence approves my endeavours and brings me
back safe and sound, I mean to repay your goodness with
equal measure, -,

V r

To his friend Herenius *

A. D. 467

Your letter finds me at Rome. You are solicitous i
to know whether the affairs which have brought me so
far go forward as we hoped, what route I took, and
how I fared on it, what rivers celebrated in song I saw,
what towns famed for their fair sites, what mountains
reputed as the haunt of gods, what glorious battlefields ;
for it is your delight to check the descriptions you have
read by the more accurate relation of the eye-witness.
I am rejoiced that you inquire about my doings, because
I know that your interest springs from the heart. Well
then, though little accidents there were, I will begin,
under kind Providence, with things of good event ; it
was the wont of our ancestors, as you know, to develop
even a tale of mishap from fortunate beginnings. As 2
bearer of the imperial letter,^ I was able to avail myself
of the public post on leaving our beloved Lyons t ; my
path lay amid the homes of kinsmen and acquaintances;
and I lost less time from scarcity of horses than from
multiplicity of friends, so closely did every one cling
about me, shouting each against the other best wishes

* Paraphrased by Hodgkin,//^/^ and her Invaders^ ii. 454 ;
For the occasion of Sidonius' visit to Rome, seejntroduction,
p. xxvii.

t Rhodamisiae nostrae.

lo Book I

for a happy journey and safe return. In this way I
drew near the Alps, which I ascended easily and with-
out delay ; formidable precipices rose on either side,
but the snow was hollowed into a track, and the way

3 thus smoothed before me. Such rivers, too, as could
not be crossed in boats, had convenient fords or
traversable bridges with covered arches, built by the art of
old time from the foundations to the stoned road above.
On the Ticino I boarded the packet known as the
cursoria, which soon bore me to the Po ; be sure
I laughed over those convivial songs of ours about
Phaethon's sisters ^ and their unnatural tears of amber

4 gum. I passed the mouth of many a tributary from
Ligurian or Euganean heights, sedgy Lambro, blue
Adda, swift Adige, slow Mincio,^ borne upon their
very eddies as I looked ; their margins and high
banks were clothed with groves of oak and maple.
Everywhere sweetly resounded the harmony of birds,
whose loose-piled nests swayed on the hollow canes,
or amid the pointed rushes and smooth reed-grass
luxuriantly flourishing in the moisture of this wet

5 riverain soil. The way led past Cremona,^ over whose
proximity the Mantuan Tityrus so deeply sighed. We
just touched at Brescello to take on Aemilian boatmen
in place of our Venetian rowers, and, bearing to the
right, soon reached Ravenna,^ where one would find
it hard to say whether Caesar's road, passing between
the two, separates or unites the old town and the new
port. The Po divides above the city, part flowing
through, part round the place. It is diverted from its
main bed by the State dykes, and is thence led in
diminished volume through derivative channels, the two

Letter V 1 1

halves so disposed that one encompasses and moats the
walls, the other penetrates them and brings them trade
— ^an admirable arrangement for commerce in general, 6
and that of provisions in particular. But the drawback
is that, with water all about us, we could not quench
our thirst ; there was neither pure-flowing aqueduct nor
filterable cistern, nor trickling source, nor unclouded
well. On the one side, the salt tides assail the gates ;
on the other, the movement of vessels stirs the filthy
sediment in the canals, or the sluggish flow is fouled
by the bargemen's poles, piercing the bottom slime.
From Ravenna we came to the Rubicon, which borrows 7
its name from the red colour of its gravels, and formed
the frontier between the old Italians and the Cisalpine
Gauls, when the two peoples divided the Adriatic
towns. Thence I journeyed to Rimini and Fano,
the first famed for its association with Caesar's rebel-
lion, the second tainted by the fate of Hasdrubal ^ ; for
hard by flows Metaurus, more durably renowned through
the fortune of a single day than if it had never ceased
to run red to this hour, and roll down the dead on
blood-stained waters to the Dalmatian Sea. After 8
this I just traversed the other towns of the Flaminian
Way — in at one gate, out at the other — leaving the
Picenians on the left and the Umbrians on the right ;
and here my exhausted system succumbed either to
Calabrian Atabulus ^ or to air of the insalubrious
Tuscan region, charged with poisonous exhalations,
and blowing now hot, now cold. Fever and thirst
ravaged the very marrow of my being ; in vain I
promised to their avidity draughts from pleasant fountain
or hidden well, yes, and from every stream present or

12 Book I

to come, water of Velino clear as glass, of Clitunno
ice-cold, cerulean of Teverone, sulphureous of Nera,
pellucid of Farfa, muddy of Tiber ; ^ I was mad to
9 drink, but prudence stayed the craving. Meanwhile,
Rome herself spread wide before my view, but I felt
like draining down her aqueducts, or even the water of
her naval spectacles. Before I reached the city limits
I fell prostrate at the triumphal threshold of the
Apostles, and in a flash I felt the languor vanish from
my enfeebled limbs. ^ After which proof of celestial
protection, I alighted at the inn of which I have en-
gaged a part, and there I am trying to get a little rest,

ro writing as I lie upon my couch. As yet I have not
presented myself at the bustling gates of Emperor or
Court official. For my arrival coincided with the
marriage of the patrician Ricimer, to whom the hand
of the Emperor's daughter was being accorded in the
hope of securer times for the State.^ Not individuals
alone, but whole classes and parties are given up to
rejoicing ; you have the best of it on your side of the
Alps. While I was writing these lines, scarce a theatre,
provision-market, praetorium, forum, temple, or gym-
nasium but echoed to the passage of the cry Thalassio I *
and even at this hour the schools are closed, no business
is doing, the Courts are voiceless, missions are postponed;
there is a truce to intrigue, and all the serious business
of life seems merged in the buffooneries of the stage.

I £ Though the bride has been given away, though the
bridegroom has put off his wreath, the consular his
palm-broidered robe, the brideswoman her wedding
gown, the distinguished senator his toga, and the plain
man his cloak, yet the noise of the great gathering has

Letter V 13

not died away in the palace chambers, because the bride
still delays to start for her husband's house. When
this merrymaking has run out its course, you shall hear
what remains to tell of my proceedings, if indeed these
crowded hours of idleness to which the whole State
seems now surrendered are ever to end, even when the
festivities are over. Farewell,

VI

To his friend Eu tropins^

A. D. 467

I HAVE long wished to write, but feel the impulse i
more than ever now, when by the Christ's preventing
grace, I am actually on the way to Rome. My sole
motive, or at least my chief one, is to drag you from
the slough of your domestic ease by an appeal to you
to enter the imperial service.^- . . .

Moreover, by the goodness of God, your age, your 2
health of body and mind concur to fit you for the
task ; you have horses, arms, wardrobe, establishment,
slaves in plenty ; the one thing lacking, unless I greatly
err, is the courage to begin. In your own home you are
energetic enough ; it is only at the idea of exile from it
that a dull despondency intimidates you. How can
it fairly be described as exile, for one with blood of
senators in his veins and with the effigies of ancestors
in the trabea daily forced upon his sight, to visit Rome
once in his prime — Rome the abode of law, the training-

* Partly translated by Chaix, p. 264. For the effect of
the letter on Eutropius, see III. vi.

14 ^ook I

school of letters, the fount of honours, the head of the
world, the motherland of freedom, the city unique upon
earth, where none but the barbarian and the slave is
foreign ? ^

3 Shame on you now if you bury yourself among cow-
keeping rustics, or grunting swineherds, as if it were
the height of your felicity to feel the plough-handle
tremble above the cleft furrow, or, bowed over your
scythe, to spoil the meadow of its flowery wealth, or
hoe the luxuriant vines with a face bent earthwards.
Have done ! awake ! sleek ease has unstrung the sinews
of your mind ; raise it to higher things. Is it a less
duty in a man of your descent to cultivate himself

4 than his estate ? In fine, what you are pleased to call
a young man's exercise is really a relaxation only fit for
broken soldiers, when their feeble hands exchange rusty
sword for belated mattock. Suppose you achieve your
end ; suppose that vineyard upon vineyard foarns with
purple juice, while piled granaries collapse under endless
mounds of grain ; suppose plump neatherds drive the
crowding cows with their swollen udders into the
reeking yards to milk : what then ? What use will
it be to have enlarged your patrimony by sordid gains
like these, to have lived recluse not only among such
things, but, O deeper shame ! for such things' sake ?
You will have only yourself to thank if one day you
stand, you a nobleman born, obscure in your white
hairs behind your juniors seated in debate, if you smart
under the speech of some poor man risen to honour by
office, and with anguish see yourself distanced by those
in whom it would once have been presumption to follow

t in our train. But why say more ? Take my appeal

Letter VI ly

as It IS meant, and you shall find me at your side ready
to anticipate and share your every efFort.^ But if you
let yourself be caught in the insidious nets of pleasure ;
if you choose to yoke yourself, as the saying is, with
the tenets of Epicurus, who frankly sacrifices virtue,
and defines the chief good as physical delight, then, be
our posterity my witness, I wash my hands of the
disgrace. Farewell.

VII
To his friend Vincentius

A. D. 468

The case of Arvandus ^ distresses me, nor do i
I conceal my distress, for it is our emperor's crowning
praise that a condemned prisoner may have friends who
need not hide their friendship. I was more intimate
with this man than it was safe to be with one so light
and so unstable, witness the odium lately kindled against
me on his account, the flame of which has scorched
me for this lapse from prudence. But since I had 2
given my friendship, honour bound me fast, though he
on his side has no steadfastness at all ; I say this
because it is the truth and not to strike him when he
is down. For he despised friendly advice and made
himself throughout the sport of fortune ; the marvel
to me is, not that he fell at last, but that he ever stood
so long. How often he would boast of weathering
adversity, when we, with a less superficial sense of
things, deplored the sure disaster of his rashness,
unable to call happy any man who only sometimes and

1 6 Book I

3 not always deserves the name. But now for your
question as to his government ; I will tell you in few
words, and with all the loyalty due to a friend however
far brought low. During his first term as prefect his
rule was very popular; the second was disastrous.
Crushed by debt, and living in dread of creditors, he
was jealous of the nobles from among whom his
successor must needs be chosen. He would make
fun of all his visitors, profess astonishment at advice,
and spurn good offices ; if people called on him too
rarely, he showed suspicion ; if too regularly, contempt.
At last the general hate encompassed him like a
rampart ; before he was well divested of his authority,
he was invested with guards, and a prisoner bound for
Rome. Hardly had he set foot in the city when he
was all exultation over his fair passage along the stormy
Tuscan coast, as if convinced that the very elements

4 were somehow at his bidding. At the Capitol, the
Count of the Imperial Largess,^ his friend Flavius
Asellus, acted as his host and jailer, showing him
deference for his prefectship, which seemed, as it
were, yet warm, so newly was it stripped from him.
Meanwhile, the three envoys from Gaul arrived upon
his heels with the provincial decrees^ empowering
them to impeach in the public name. They were
Tonantius Ferreolus,^ the ex -prefect, and grandson,
on the mother's side, of the Consul Afranius Syagrius,
Thaumastus, and Petronius, all men practised in affairs
and eloquent, all conspicuous ornaments of our country.

5 They brought, with other matters entrusted to them by
the province, an intercepted letter, which Arvandus'
secretary, now also under arrest, declared to have been

Letter VII 17

dictated by his master. It was evidently addressed to
the King of the Goths,* whom it dissuaded from con-
cluding peace with 'the Greek Emperor ',t urging that
instead he should attack the Bretons north of the
Loire, and asserting that the law of nations called for
a division of Gaul between Visigoth and Burgundian.
There was more in the same mad vein, calculated to
inflame a choleric king, or shame a quiet one into
action. Of course the lawyers found here a flagrant
case of treason. These tactics did not escape the 6
excellent Auxanius and myself; in whatever way
we might have incurred the impeached man's friend-
ship, we both felt that to evade the consequences at
this crisis of his fate would be to brand us as traitors,
barbarians, and poltroons. We at once exposed
to the unsuspecting victim the whole scheme which
a prosecution, no less astute than alert and ardent,
intended to keep dark until the trial ; their scheme was
to noose in some unguarded reply an adversary rash
enough to repudiate the advice of all his friends and
rely wholly on his own unaided wits. We told him
what to us and to more secret friends seemed the
one safe course ; we begged him not to give the
slightest point away which they might try to extract
from him on pretence of its insignificance ; their dis-
simulation would be ruinous to him if it drew incau-
tious admissions in answer to their questions. When 7
he grasped our point, he was beside himself; he
suddenly broke out into abuse, and cried : ' Begone,
you and your nonsensical fears, degenerate sons of
prefectorian fathers ; leave this part of the afl^air to
* Euric. t Anthemius,

546.22,1 C

1 8 Book I

me ; It is beyond an intelligence like yours. Arvandus
trusts in a clear conscience ; the employment of advo-
cates to defend him on the charge of bribery shall be
his one concession.' We came away in low spirits,
disturbed less by the insult to ourselves than by a real
concern ; what right has the doctor to take offence

8 when a man past cure gives way to passion ? Mean-
while, our defendant goes off to parade the Capitol
square, and in white raiment too ; he finds sustenance
in the sly greetings which he receives ; he listens with
a gratified air as the bubbles of flattery burst about him.
He casts curious eyes on the gems and silks and precious
fabrics of the dealers, inspects, picks up, unrolls, beats
down the prices as if he were a likely purchaser,
moaning and groaning the whole time over the laws,
the age, the senate, the emperor, and all because they
would not right him then and there without investiga-

9 tion. A few days passed, and, as I learned afterwards
(I had left Rome in the interim), there was a full house
in the senate-hall. Arvandus proceeded thither freshly
groomed and barbered, while the accusers waited the
decemvirs' ^ summons unkempt and in half-mourning,
snatching from him thus the defendant's usual right,
and securing the advantage of suggestion which the
suppliant garb confers. The parties were admitted
and, as the custom is, took up positions opposite each
other. Before the proceedings began, all of prefectorian
rank were allowed to sit; instantly Arvandus, with
that unhappy impudence of his, rushed forward and
forced himself almost into the very bosoms of the
judges, while the ex -prefect* gained subsequent credit

* Tonantius Ferreolus.

Letter VII 19

and respect by placing himself quietly and modestly
amidst his colleagues at the lowest end of the benches,
to show that his quality of envoy was his first thought,
and not his rank as senator. While this was going lo
on, absent members of the house came in ; the parties
stood up and the envoys set forth their charge. They
first produced their mandate from the province, then
the already-mentioned letter ; this was being read
sentence by sentence, when Arvandus admitted the
authorship without even waiting to be asked. The
envoys rejoined, rather cruelly, that the fact of his
dictation was obvious.^ And when the madman, blind
to the depth of his fall, dealt himself a deadly blow by
repeating the avowal not once, but twice, the accusers
raised a shout, and the judges cried as one man that
he stood convicted of treason out of his own mouth.
Scores of legal precedents were on record to achieve
his ruin. Only at this point, and then not at once, is ir
the wretched man said to have turned white in tardy
repentance of his loquacity, recognizing all too late that
it is possible to be convicted of high treason for other
offences than aspiring to the purple. He was stripped
on the spot of all the privileges pertaining to his prefec-
ture, an office which by re-election he had held ^vq
years, and consigned to the common jail as one not
now first degraded to plebeian rank, but restored to it
as his own. Eye-witnesses report, as the most pathetic
feature of all, that as a result of his intrusion upon his
judges in all that bravery and smartness while his
accusers dressed in black, his pitiable plight won him
no pity when he was led off to prison a little later.
How, indeed, could any one be much moved at his

c 2

2 0 Book I

fate, seeing him haled to the quarries or hard labour

1 2 still all trimmed and pomaded like a fop ? Judgement
was deferred a bare fortnight. He was then condemned
to death, and flung into the island of the Serpent of
Epidaurus.^ There, an object of compassion even to
his enemies, his elegance gone, spewed, as it were, by
Fortune out of the land of the living, he now drags out
by benefit of Tiberius' ^ law his respite of thirty days
after sentence, shuddering through the long hours at
the thought of hook and Gemonian stairs, and the

1 3 noose of the brutal executioner. We, of course, whether
in Rome or out of it, are doing all we can ; we make
daily vows, we redouble prayers and supplications that
the imperial clemency may suspend the stroke of the
drawn sword, and rather visit a man already half dead
with confiscation of property, and exile. But whether
Arvandus has only to expect the worst, or must actually
undergo it, he is surely the most miserable soul alive if,
branded with such marks of shame, he has any other
desire than to die. Farewell.

VIII

To his friend Candidianus^

A. D. 468

I You congratulate me on my prolonged stay at Rome,
though I note the touch of irony, and your wit at my
expense. You say you are glad your old friend has at
last seen the sun, since on the Saone his chances of

* Partly translated by Hodgkin, i. 860, and by Chaix,
i. 273. Cf. Letter V.

Letter VIII 21

a good look at it are few and far between. You abuse
my misty Lyons/ and deplore the days so cloaked by
morning fog that the full heat of noon can scarcely
unveil them. Now does this nonsense fitly come from 2
a native of that oven of a town Cesena ? You have
shown your real opinion of your charming and con-
venient natal soil by leaving it. The midges of Po
may pierce your ears ; the city frogs may croak and
swarm on every side, but you know very well that you
are better off in exile at Ravenna than at home. In
that marsh of yours the laws of everything are always
the wrong way about ; the waters stand and the walls
fall, the towers float and the ships stick fast, the sick
man walks and the doctor lies abed, the baths are
chill and the houses blaze, the dead swim and the
quick are dry, the powers are asleep and the thieves
wide awake, the clergy live by usury and the Syrian
chants the Psalms, business men turn soldiers and
soldiers business men, old fellows play ball and young
fellows hazard, eunuchs take to arms and rough allies
to letters.^ And that is the kind of city you choose 3
to settle in, a place that may boast a territory but little
solid ground. Be kinder, therefore, to ^Transalpines
who never provoked you ; their climate wins too cheap
a triumph if it shines only by comparison with such as
yours. Farewell.

IX

lo his friend Herenius

A. D. 468

The patrician Ricimer well married, and the wealth i
of both empires blown to the winds in the process, the

22 Book I

community has at last resumed its sober senses and
opened door and field again to business. Even before
this happened I had already been made welcome to the
home of the prefectorian Paul, and enjoyed the friend-
liest and most hospitable treatment in a house no less
respectable for piety than learning. I do not know
the man more eminent in every kind of accomplishment
than my host. I am amazed when I think of the
subtleties which he propounds, the figures of rhetoric
adorning his judgements, the polish of his verses, the
wonders which his fingers can perform. And over
and above this encyclopaedic knowledge, he has a still
better possession, a conscience superior even to all this
science. Naturally, my first inquiries as to possible
avenues to court- favour were addressed to him ; with
him I discuss the likeliest patrons for the advancement

2 of our hopes. There is, however, little need to hesitate ;
the number of those whose influence merits our con-
sideration is so small. There are, indeed, many
senators of wealth and birth, ripe in experience, helpful
in counsel, all of the highest rank, and equal in real
consideration. But without disparagement to others,
we found two consulars, Gennadius Avienus and
Caecina Basilius, in enjoyment of a peculiar eminence,
and conspicuous above the rest ; if you leave out of the
account the great military oflicers, these two members
of the exalted order easily come next to the emperor
himself. We found them both deserving of the highest
admiration ; but their characters were very diflPerent ;
what resemblance there was rested rather on inborn
than acquired qualities. Let me give you a short

3 description of the pair. Avienus reached the consulate

Letter IX 23

by luck, Basillus by merit. It was observed that the
former attained his dignities with enviable rapidity, but
that although the latter was slower, he won the greater
number of distinctions in the end. If either chanced
to leave his house, a whole populace of clients was
afoot to escort him, and pressed about him like a human
tide. But though the two were in so far on a level,
the spirits and expectations of their friends were very
far from equal. Avienus would do all that in him lay
for the advancement of his sons, or sons-in-law, or
brothers, but was so absorbed in family candidates that
his energy in the interest of outside aspirants was
proportionately impaired. There was a further reason 4
for preferring the Decian to the Corvinian family.
What Avienus could only obtain for his own con-
nexions while in office, Basilius obtained for strangers
while he was in a private station. Avienus opened
his mind freely, and at once, but little came of it;
Basilius rarely and not for some time, but to the
petitioner's advantage. Neither of the two was in-
accessible or costly of approach ; but in the one case
cultivation reaped mere affability, in the other, solid
gain. After long balancing of alternatives, we finally 5
compromised in this sense ; we would preserve all due
respect for the older consular, whose house we were duly
frequenting, but devote our real attention to the habitues
of Basilius' house. Now while, with the assistance
of this right honourable friend, I was considering how
best to advance the matter of our Arvemian petition,^
the Kalends of January came round, on which day the
emperor's name was to be enrolled in the Fasti as
consul for a second year. ' The very thing,' cried my 6

24 Book I

patron. ' My dear Sollius, I well know that you are
engaged in an exacting duty, but I do wish you would
bring out your Muse again in honour of the new
consul ; let her sing something appropriate to the
occasion, in whatever haste composed. I will obtain
you an audience, be there to encourage you before
you begin to recite, and guarantee you a good recep-
tion when you have done. I have some experience
in these matters ; trust me when I say that serious
advantage may accrue from this little scheme.' I took
the hint ; he did not withdraw from the suggested
plan, but gave me the support of an invincible ally in
the act of homage imposed upon me, and managed so
to influence my new consul, that I was incontinently

y named president of his senate. But I expect you are tired
to death of this prolix letter, and would much rather
peruse my little work ^ itself at your leisure. Indeed,
I am sure you would, so the eloquent pages bear you
the verses herewith, and must do duty for me until
I come to speak for myself a few days hence. If
my lines win the suffrage of your critical judgement,
I shall be just as delighted as if a speech of mine in
the assembly or from the rostra called forth the ' bravos'
not of senators alone but of all the citizens. I warn
you, nay, I insist with you, not to think of setting this
slight piece of mine on the same plane as the hexameters
of your own Muse, for by the side of yours my lines
will suggest the triviality of epitaph-mongers rather than

8 the grandeur of heroic verse. Rejoice, all the same,
with the panegyrist ; he cannot claim the credit of
a fine performance, but at least he has the reward of
one. And so, if gay may enliven grave, I will imitate

Letter IX 25*

the Pyrgopollnices of Plautus, and conclude in a robus-
tious and Thrasonical vein.^ And since, by Christ's
aid, I have got the prefecture by a lucky pen, I bid
you treat me as my new state demands ; pile up all
conceivable felicitations and exalt to the stars my
eloquence or my luck, according as I please, or fail to
please, your judgement. I can imagine your smile when
you see your friend carrying it off in this style with the
braggart airs of the old stage-soldier. Farewell.

X

To his friend Campanianus

A. D. 468

The Intendant of Supplies ^ has personally presented i
the letter in which you commend him as your old
friend to my new judgement. I am greatly indebted
to him, but most of all to yourself for this evidence of
your resolve to assume my friendship certain and proof
against all suspicion. I welcome, I eagerly embrace
this opportunity of acquaintance, and of intimacy, since
my desire to oblige you cannot but draw closer the
bonds which already unite us. But please commend 2
me in my turn to his vigilant care, commend, that is,
my cause and my repute. For I rather fear that there
may be an uproar in the theatres if the supplies of
grain run short, and that the hunger of all the Romans
will be laid to my account. I am on the point of dis-
patching him immediately to the harbour in person,
because news is to hand that five ships from Brindisi
have put in at Ostia laden with wheat and honey.

2 6 Book I

A stroke of energy on his -part, and we should have
these cargoes ready in no time for the expectant crowds ;
he would win my favour, I the people's, and he and
I together yours. Farewell.

XI

To his friend Montius

ABOUT A. D. 461-7

r On the eve of your departure to visit your people of
Franche-Comt^, most eloquent of friends, you ask me for
a copy of a certain satire, assuming it really of my com-
position, I must say the request surprises me ; it is not
nice to jump to a false conclusion about a friend's con-
duct in this manner. It is so likely — is it not ? — that at
my then age and with my total lack of leisure, I should
devote my energies to a kind of literature which it
would have been presumptuous in a young man doing
his service to compose, and assuredly perilous to
publish. Why, a mere nodding acquaintance with
a grammarian would suffice to recall the advice of
the Calabrian :

' Against the libellous poet, is there not remedy
of law and sentence ? ' ^

2 To prevent any more credulity of this sort as regards
your old friend, I will set forth at some length, and
from the beginning, the events which brought on my
head the sound and smoke of public odium. In the
reign of Majorian, an anonymous but very mordant
satire in verse was circulated at court ; gross in its
invective, it took advantage of unprotected names,

Letter XI 27

though it lashed vice, its attack was above all personal.^
The inhabitants of Aries (that city was the scene
of these events) were much excited ; they wanted to
know on which of our poets the weight of public indig-
nation was to fall ; at their head were the men whom
the invisible author had most visibly branded. It 3
chanced that the illustrious Catulllnus arrived at this
juncture from Clermont ; always a close friend of mine,
he was then nearer to me than ever, as we had just
served together ; a common duty away from home
brings (you know how) fellow citizens nearer. Well,
Paeonius and Bigerrus set a trap for the unsuspecting
visitor : they took him off his guard, and asked him,
before numerous witnesses, whether he was familiar
with the new poem. ' Let me hear some of it/ said
Catulllnus. But when they went on jestingly to quote
various passages from the satire, he burst out laughing,
and asseverated, rather inopportunely, perhaps, that such
verses deserved to be immortalized, and set up in letters
of gold on the rostra or the Capitol.^ At this Paeonius 4
flamed out, for he was the man whom the fiery tooth of
the satirist had most sharply bitten. ' Ha ! ' he cried to
the crowd attracted to the spot, ' I have found out the
author of this public outrage. Just look at Catulllnus
half dead with laughter there ; obviously he knew all the
points beforehand. How could he thus anticipate, and
conclude from a mere part, unless he were already
acquainted with the whole ? We know that SIdonius is
in Auvergne. It is easy to infer that he wrote the thing
and that Catulllnus was the first to hear it from his lips.'
Now I was not only absent, but ignorant and Innocent
as a babe ; that did not prevent a tempest of fury and

28 Book I

abuse against me ; they cast to the winds loyalty, fair

5 play, and fair inquiry ; such power had this popular
favourite to draw the iickle crowd whither he would.
As you know, Paeonius was a demagogue well versed
in the tribune's art of troubling the waters of faction.
But if you asked ' whence his descent and where
his home ? ' ^ 'tis known he was nothing more than
a plain citizen, whom the eminence of his stepfather
more than any distinction of his own house first
brought to public notice. He was bent on rising,
and more than once let it be seen that he would
stick at nothing to attain his end ; though mean by
nature he would spend freely for his own advance-
ment. For example, when the engagement of his
daughter (against whom I would not breathe a word)
brought him the alliance of a family above his own,
our Chremes,^ if rumour does not lie, announced
to his Pamphilus a dower magnificently beyond the

6 strict civic standard. Again, when the Marcellian con-
spiracy ^ to seize the diadem was brewing, what did our
friend do ? A novus homo^ and in his grey hairs, he must
needs constitute himself the leader of the young nobility
until in the fullness of time the efforts of a lucky audacity
were rewarded, for the interregnum, like a rift in clouds,
threw a flash of splendour on the obscurity of his birth.
The throne was vacant, the State in confusion ; but he,
and only he, had the face, without waiting for creden-
tials, to assume the fasces as prefect in Gaul, and for
months together climb, in the sight of gods and men,
the tribunal distinguished by so many illustrious magis-
trates. Like a public accountant or advocate promoted
to honours at the close of a professional career, he

Letter XI 29

just managed to get recognition at the very end of his
official term. A prefect and senator in such wise that j
only my respect for the character of his son-in-law pre-
vents me from exposing him as utterly as he deserves,
behold him unashamed to fan the odium of good and bad
alike against one still nominally his friend, as if I were
the only man of my epoch competent to string a verse
or two together. I came to Aries suspecting nothing
— how should I ? — though my enemies were good
enough to believe I dared not venture. The next day
I paid my duty to the emperor, and went down to the
forum, as I always do. As soon as I appeared, the con-
spiracy was at once confounded, being of the sort which,
as Lucan says,^ dares put nothing to the touch. Some
fell cringing at my knees, abasing themselves beyond
propriety ; others hid behind statues or columns to avoid
the necessity of salutation ; others, again, with looks
of affected sorrow, walked closely at my sides. I was 8
wondering all the time what might be the meaning
of this excess, first in insolence and now in abasement,
but was determined not to ask, when one of the gang,
put up, no doubt, to play the part, came forward to
exchange greeting. We talked, and incidentally he
remarked : ' You see these people ? ' ' I do indeed,'
I answered, 'and I may say that their proceedings
astonish me as much as they impress me little/ To
which my kind interpreter rejoined : ' It is in your quality
of satirist that they show this fear or detestation of
you.' ' How so,' I cried, ' on what grounds ? when
did I give them the excuse ? who detected the offence ?
who brought the charge and who the proof?' Then,
with a smile, I continued thus ; ' My dear sir, if you

30 Book I

don't mind, oblige me by asking these excited persons
from me, whether It was a professed Informer or spy
who got up this Imaginative story about my writing
a satire. If they have to make the Inevitable apology
later, it will be better for them to give up this outrageous
9 behaviour at once.' No sooner had he conveyed the
message, than they all came to offer their hands and
salutations, not man by man, and with decorum, but
the whole herd with a rush. Our Curio was left all
alone to breathe imprecations on the base deserters, until
at fall of evening he was hurried off home on the

10 shoulders of bearers gloomier than mutes. The next
day the emperor commanded my presence at the banquet
he was giving on the occasion of the Games. At the
left end of the couch ^ was Severlnus, the consul of the
year, who managed to trim his sails to a wind of even
favour throughout our vast dynastic changes and all
the uneven fortunes of the State. Next him was the
ex-prefect Magnus, who had just laid down the consul's
office, and by virtue of these two dignities was no un-
worthy neighbour. Beyond Magnus was his nephew
Camlllus, w^ho had also held two offices, and by his
conduct of them added equal lustre to his father's pro-
consular rank and his uncle's consulship. Next to
him was Paeonlus, and then Athenlus, a man versed in
every turn of controversy and vicissitude of the times.
After them came Gratianensis, a character not to be
mentioned in the same breath with evil ; and though
lower In rank than Severlnus, above him in the Imperial
estimation. I was last, upon the left side of the
emperor, who lay at the right extremity of the table.

11 When the dinner was well advanced, the prince

Letter XI 3 i

addressed a few short remarks to the consul. He
then turned to the ex-consul, with whom he talked
several times, the subjects being literary. At an early
opportunity he addressed himself to Camillus, with the
remark : ^ My dear Camillus, you have so admirable
an uncle that I pride m^yself on having conferred
a consulship on your family.' Camillus, who coveted
a like promotion, saw his chance, and replied : 'A
consulship. Sire! you surely mean z. first ? ' Even the
emperor's presence did not check the loud applause
which greeted this rejoinder. By accident, or of set 12
purpose, I cannot say which, the prince now passed
over Paeonius, and addressed some question or other
to Athenius. Paeonius had the bad manners to take
the oversight ill, and made matters worse by answer-
ing before the other had time to speak. The emperor
only laughed ; it was his way to be very genial in
society so long as his own dignity was observed. To
Athenius the laugh came as compensation for the
slight he had suffered. That craftiest of all the elders
had been boiling with suppressed resentment all the
time because Paeonius had been placed above him,
but he calmed himself enough to say : ' It no longer
surprises me. Sire, that he should try to push him-
self into my place, when he has now pushed into
your Majesty's conversation.' The illustrious Gratia- 13
nensis here remarked that the episode opened a wide
field to a satirist. On this, the emperor turned round
to me and said : * It is news to me, Count Sidonius,^
that you are a writer of satires.' ' Sire,' I answered,
' it is news to me too.' ' Anyhow,' he replied with
a laugh, ' I beg you to be merciful to me.' ' I shall

52 Book I

spare myself also/ I rejoined, 'by refraining from
illegality/ Thereupon the emperor said : ' What shall
we do, then, to the people who have provoked you ? '
' This, Sire/ I answered. ' Whoever my accuser be,
let him come out into the open. If I am proved
guilty, let me abide the penalty. But if, as will prob-
ably be the case, I rebut the charge, I ask of your
clemency permission to write anything I choose about my

14 assailant, provided I observe the law.' The emperor
looked at Paeonius, who was hesitating, and made a sign
of inquiry whether he accepted the conditions. But he
had not a word to answer, and the prince spared his
embarrassment ; at last, however, he managed to say :
^ I agree to your conditions, if you can put them in
verse on the spot.' ' Very well,' I said ; and turning
back, as if to call for water for my hands, I remained in
that attitude the time occupied by a quick servant in going
round the table. I then resumed my former position,
and the emperor said : ' Your undertaking was to ask in
an impromptu our sanction for writing satire.' I replied :

* O mightiest prince, I pray that this be thy decree :
let him who calls me libeller or prove his charge, or fear.'

15 I do not want to seem conceited, but the applause
which followed was equal to that which had greeted
Camillus ; though it was earned, of course, less by the
merit of the verse than by the speed with which I had
composed. Then the emperor cried : ' I call God and
the common weal to witness that in future I give you
licence to write what you please ; the charge brought
against you was not susceptible of proof. It would be
most unjust if the imperial decision allowed such latitude
to private quarrels that evident malice might imperil

Letter XI 35

by obscure charges nobles whom conscious innocence
puts wholly off their guard.' At this pronouncement
I modestly bent my head and thanked him ; the face
of my opponent, which had previously shown successive
signs of rage and vexation, now grew pale. Indeed, it
was almost frozen with terror, as if he had received the
order to present his neck to the executioner's drawn
sword. Little more was said before we rose from the i6
table. We had withdrawn a short distance from the
imperial presence, and were in the act of putting on our
mantles, when the consul fell upon my bosom, the ex-
prefects seized my hands, and my guilty friend abased
himself so often and so profoundly, that he aroused
universal pity, and bade fair to place me in a more in-
vidious position by his entreaties than he had ever done
by his insinuations. Urged to speak by the throng of
nobles round me, I closed the episode by telling him that
he might set his mind at rest ; I should write no satire
on his base intrigue so long as he abstained hencefor-
ward from the misrepresentation of my actions. It
should be punishment enough for him to know that his
ascription of the lampoon to me had added to my credit
and brought nothing but discredit on himself. In fine, 17
honoured lord, the man whom I thus confounded had
not been loudest in calumny ; he was a mere whisperer.
But since, by his offence, I had the satisfaction of being
so warmly greeted by so many men of the highest in-
fluence and position, I confess that it was almost worth
while to have borne the scandal of the exordium for the
sake of so triumphant a conclusion. Farewell.

(46.22 I

BOOK II

I

To ^his brother-in-larv^ Ecdicius^

C, A.D. 470

r Your countrymen of Auvergne suffer equally from
two evils. ^ What are those ? ' you ask. Seronatus'
presence, and your own absence. Seronatus — his very
name first calls for notice ; ^ I think that when he was
so named, a prescient fortune must have played with
contradictions, as our predecessors did, who by
antiphrasis used the root of ' beautiful ' in their word
for war, the most hideous thing on earth ; and, with no
less perversity, the root of mercy in their name for
Fate, because Fate never spares. This Catiline of our
day is just returned from the region of the Adour to
blend in whole confusion the fortune and the blood of
unhappy victims which down there he had only pledged

2 himself in part to shed. You must know that his long-
dissembled savagery comes daily further into the light.
His spite affronts the day ; his dissimulation was abject
as his arrogance is servile. He commands like a despot ;
no tyrant more exacting than he, no judge more
peremptory in sentence, no barbarian falser in false
witness. The livelong day he goes armed from cowardice,
and starving from pure meanness. Greed makes him

* Partly translated by Fertig, Part i, p. 20.

Letter I 35-

formidable, and vanity cruel ; he continually commits
himself the very thefts he punishes in others. To the
universal amusement he will rant of war in a civilian
company, and of literature among Goths. Though he
barely knows the alphabet, he has the conceit to dictate
letters in public and the impudence to revise them under
the same conditions.

All property he covets he makes a show of buying ; 3
but he never thinks of paying, nor does he trouble to
furnish himself with deeds, knowing it hopeless to
prove a title.^ In the council-chamber he commands,
but in counsel he is mute. He jests in church and
preaches at table ; snores on the bench, and breathes
condemnation in his bedroom. His actions are filling
the woods with dangerous fugitives from the estates,
the churches with scoundrels, the prisons with holy
men. He cries the Goths up and the Romans down ;
he prepares illusions for prefects and collusions with
public accountants. He tramples under foot the
Theodosian Code to set in its place the laws of a Theo-
doric,^ raking up old charges to justify new imposts.
Be quick, then, to unravel the tangle of affairs that 4
makes you linger ; cut short whatever causes your
delay. Our people are at the last gasp ; freedom is
almost dead. Whether there is any hope, or whether
all is to be despair, they want you in their midst to
lead them. If the State is powerless to succour, if,
as rumour says, the Emperor Anthemius is without
resource, our nobility is determined to follow your lead,
and give up their country or the hair of their heads. ^
Farewell.

D 2

3 (J Book II

II
To his friend Domitius

A.D. 461-7 (?) 1

1 You attack me for staying in the country ; I might
with greater reason complain of you for lingering in
town. Spring already gives place to summer ; the sun
has travelled his full range to the Tropic of Cancer
and now advances on his journey towards the pole.
Why should I waste words upon the climate which we
here enjoy ? The Creator has so placed us that we
are exposed to the afternoon heats. Enough said ;
the whole world glows ; the snow is melting on the
Alps ; the earth is seamed with gaping heat-cracks.
The fords are nothing but dry gravel, the banks hard
mud, the plains dust ; the running streams languish
and hardly drag themselves along; as for the water,

2 hot is not the word ; it boils. We are all perspiring
in light silks or linens ; but there you stay at Ameria
all swathed up under your great gown, buried in
a deep chair, and setting with many yawns ' My
mother was a Samian ' ^ to pupils paler from the heat
than from any fear of you. As you love your health,
get away at once from your suffocating alleys, join our
household as the most welcome of all guests, and
in this most temperate of retreats evade the intemperate
dog-star.

3 You may like to know the kind of place to which
you are invited. We are at the estate known as
Avitacum,^ a name of sweeter sound in my ears than
my own patrimony because it came to me with my

Letter II 37

wife. Infer the harmony which established between
me and mine ; it is God's ordinance ; but you might be
pardoned for fearing it the work of some enchantment.
On the west rises a big hill, pretty steep but not
rocky, from which issue two lower spurs, like branches
from a double trunk, extending over an area of about
four jugera. But while the ground opens out enough
to form a broad approach to the front door, the
straight slopes on either side lead a valley right to
the boundary of the villa, which faces north and
south. On the south-west are the baths,^ which so 4
closely adjoin a wooded eminence that if timber is
cut on the hill above, the piles of logs slide down
almost by their own weight, and are brought up against
the very mouth of the furnace. At this point is the
hot bath, which corresponds in size with the adjoining
unguentarium^ except that it has an apse with a semi-
circular basin ; here the hot water pressing through the
sinuous lead pipes that pierce the wall issues with
a sobbing sound. The chamber itself is well heated
from beneath ; it is full of day, and so overflowing
with light that very modest bathers seem to themselves
something more than naked. Next come the spacious 5
frigUarium, which may fairly challenge comparison with
those in public baths. The roof is pyramidal, and the
spaces between the converging ridges are covered with
imbricated tiles ; the architect has inserted two opposite
windows about the junction of walls and dome, so that
if you look up, you see the fine cofl^ering displayed to
the best advantage. The interior walls are unpre-
tentiously covered with plain white stucco, and the
apartment is designed by the nicest calculation of space

3« Book II

to contain the same number of persons as the semi-
circular bath holds bathers, while it yet allows the
servants to move about without impeding one another.

6 No frescoed scene obtrudes its comely nudities, gracing
the art to the disgrace of the artist. You will observe
no painted actors in absurd masks, and costumes rival-
ling Philistio's gear with colours gaudy as the rainbow.^
You will find no pugilists or wrestlers intertwining their
oiled limbs in those grips which, in real bouts, the
gymnasiarch's chaste wand unlocks the moment

7 the enlaced limbs look indecent. Enough you will see
upon these walls none of those things which it is nicer
not to look upon. A few verses there are, harmless
lines enough, since no one either regrets perusal or
cares to peruse again. If you want to know what
marbles are employed, neither Paros nor Carystos, nor
Proconnesos, nor Phrygia, nor Numidia, nor Sparta
have contributed their diverse inlays. I had no use for
stone that simulates a broken surface, with Ethiopic
crags and purple precipices stained with genuine murex.
Though enriched by no cold splendour of foreign
marble, my poor huts and hovels do not lack the cool-
ness to which a plain citizen may aspire. But now
I had really better talk about the things I have, than

8 the things I lack. With this hall is connected on the
eastern side an annexe, a piscina, or, if you prefer the
Greek word, baptistery, with a capacity of about twenty
thousand modii. Into this the bathers pass from the
hot room by three arched entrances in the dividing
wall. The supports are not piers but columns, which
your experienced architect calls the glory of buildings.
Into this piscina, then, a stream lured from the brow

Letter II 39

of the hill is conducted in channels curving round the
outside of the swimming basin ; it issues through six
pipes terminating in lions* heads which, to one entering
rapidly, seem to present real fangs, authentic fury of
eyes, indubitable manes. When the master of the 9
house stands here with his household or his guests
about him, people have to shout in each other's ears, or
the noise of falling water makes their words inaudible ;
the interference of this alien sound forces conversations
which are quite public to assume an amusing air of
secrecy. On leaving this chamber you see in front
of you the with drawing-room ; adjoining it is the store-
room, separated only by a movable partition from the
place where the maids do our weaving.

On the east side a portico commands the lake, sup- 10
ported by simple wooden pillars instead of pretentious
monumental columns. On the side of the front
entrance is a long covered space unbroken by interior
divisions ; it may be incorrect to call this a hypodrome,
but I may fairly award it the name of cryptoporticus.
At the end it is curtailed by a section cut off to form
a delightfully cool bay, and here when we keep open
festival, the whole chattering chorus of nurses and
dependants sounds a halt when the family retires for
the siesta.

The winter dining-room is entered from this crypto- 1 1
porticus ; a roaring fire on an arched hearth often fills
this apartment with smoke and smuts. But that detail
I may spare you ; a glowing hearth is the last thing
I am inviting you to enjoy just now. I pass instead to
things which suit the season and your present need.
From here one enters a smaller chamber or dining-room,

40 Book II

all open to the lake and with almost the whole expanse
of lake in its view. This chamber is furnished with
a dining-couch and gleaming sideboard upon a raised
area or dais to which you mount gradually, and not by
abrupt or narrow steps from the portico below. Reclining
at this table you can give the idle moments between the

1 2 courses to the enjoyment of the prospect. If water of
our famous springs is served and quickly poured into
the cups, one sees snowy spots and clouded patches
form outside them ; the sudden chill dulls the fugitive
reflections of the surface almost as if it had been
greased. Such cups restrict one's draughts ; the
thirstiest soul on earth, to say nothing of Your Abste-
miousness, would set lip to the freezing brims with
caution. From table you may watch the fisherman
row his boat out to mid-lake, and spread his seine with
cork floats, or suspend his lines at marked intervals to
lure the greedy trout on their nightly excursions
through the lake with bait of their own flesh and blood :
what phrase more proper, since fish is literally caught

13 by fish ? The meal over, we pass into a withdra wing-
room, which its coolness makes a perfect place in
summer. Facing north, it receives all the dayhght but
no direct sun : a very small intervening chamber accom-
modates the drowsy servants, large enough to allow

14 them forty winks but not a regular sleep. It is
delightful to sit here and listen to the shrill cicala
at noon, the croak of frogs in the gloaming, the
clangour of swans and geese in the earlier night or
the crow of cocks in the dead of it, the ominous voice
of rooks saluting the rosy face of Dawn in chorus, or,
in the half-light, nightingales fluting in the bushes and

Letter II 41

swallows twittering under the eaves. To this concert
you may add the seven-stopped pipe of the pastoral
Muse, on which the very wakeful Tityri of our hills
will often vie one with another, while the herds
about them low to the cow-bells as they graze along
the pastures. All these tuneful songs and sounds will
but charm you into deeper slumbers. If you leave the 15
colonnade and go down to the little lakeside harbour,
you come to a greensward, and, hard by, to a grove of
trees where every one is allowed to go. There stand
two great limes, with roots and trunks apart, but the
boughs interwoven in one continuous canopy. In their
dense shade we play at ball^ when my Ecdicius honours
me with his company ; but the moment the shadow of
the trees shrinks to the area covered by the branches
we stop for want of ground, and repose our tired limbs
at dice.

I have described the house ; I now owe you 1 6
a description of the lake. It extends in a devious
course towards the east, and when violent winds lash
it to fury, drenches the lower part of the house with
spray. At its head the ground is marshy and full of
bog-holes, impassable to the explorer ; a slimy and
saturated mud has formed there, and cold springs rise
on all sides; the edges are fringed with weed. When
the wind drops, small boats cleave its changeful surface
in all directions. But if dirty weather comes up from
the south the whole lake is swollen into monstrous waves
and a rain of spray comes crashing over the tree-tops upon
the banks. By nautical measure, it is seventeen stadia 17
in length. Where the river comes in, the broken
water foams white against the rocky barriers ; but the

42 Book II

stream soon wins clear of the overhanging crags, and is
lost in the smooth expanse. Whether the river itself
makes the lake, or is only an affluent, I know not ;
certain it is that it reaches the other end, and flows away
through subterranean channels which only deprive it of
its fish, and leave it intact in volume. The fish, driven
into more sluggish waters, increase in size, red bodied
and white under the belly. They cannot either return or
escape ; they fatten, and go self-contained as it were in

1 8 portable jails of their own composition. On the right,
a wooded shore curves with an indented line ; on the
left, it opens to a level sweep of grass. On the south-
west the shallows along the banks look green ; over-
arching boughs lend the water their own hue, and the
water transmits it to the pebbles at the bottom ; on the
east, a similar fringe of foliage produces a like tint. On
the north, the water preserves its natural colour ; on the
west, the shore is covered with a tangle of common
growths crushed in many places where boats have rowed
over them ; close by, tufts of smooth reeds bend to the
wind, and pulpy flat leaves of aquatic plants float upon
the surface ; the sweet waters nourish the bitter sap of

19 the grey-green willows growing near. In the deep
middle of the lake is an islet, at one end of which
projects a turning post upon boulders naturally piled,
worn by contact with oar-blades during our aquatic
sports ; at this point competitors often collide and come
to cheerful grief. Our fathers used to hold boat-races
here in imitation of the Trojan ceremonial games at
Drepanum.^

It is not in my bond to describe the estate itself;
suffice it to say that it has spreading woods and flowery

Letter II 43

meadows, pastures rich in cattle and a wealth of hardy
shepherds. Here I must conclude. Were my pen to 20
run on much further the autumn would overtake you
before you reached the end. Accord me, then, the
grace of coming quickly; your return shall be as slow
as ever you choose. And forgive me if, in my fear of
overlooking anything about our situation here, I have
given you facts in excess and beyond the fair limits of
a letter. As it is, there are points which I have left
untouched for fear of being tedious. But a reader of
your judgement and imagination will not exaggerate the
size of the descriptive page, but rather that of the house
so spaciously depicted. Farewell.

Ill

To ^his friend Magnus'^ Felix

C, A.D. 472

I REJOICE, honoured lord, to see you win the i
distinction of this most exalted title ; ^ and all the
more because the news is announced to me by special
messenger. For though you are now high among the
powers, and after all these years the patrician dignity
comes back to the Philagrian house by your felicity ^,
you will discover, most loyal of friends, how much your
honours grow by being shared, and how far so rare
a modesty as yours exalts a lofty station. It was 2
for these qualities that the Roman people once preferred
Quintus Fabius the Master of the Horse to Cursor
with his dictatorial rigour and his Papirian pride ; ^ for
these that Pompey surpassed all rivals in a popularity

44 ^ook II

which he was too wise to scorn. By these Germanicus
won the whole world's favour and forced Tiberius
to repress his envy. For these reasons I will not
concede all the credit for your promotion to the
imperial pleasure. It has only one advantage over
ours ; were we to oppose your claims, it has the power
to override us. Your peculiar privilege, your unique
advantage is this : you have neither actual rival nor
visible successor. Farewell.

IV
To his friend Sagittarius^

A.D. 461-7

1 The honourable § Projectus is ardently bent upon
your friendship ; I trust that you will not repel his
advances. He is of noble lineage ; the reputation of
his father and his uncle, and his grandfather's eminence
in the Church unite to lend a lustre to his name ; he
has indeed all that conduces to distinction ; family,
wealth, probity, energetic youth ; but not till he is
assured of your good graces, will he consider himself
to have attained the culminating point of his career.

2 Although he has already asked and obtained from the
widow of the late honourable Optantlus her daughter's
hand — may God speed his hopes — he fears that little
will have been gained by all his vows, unless his own
solicitude, or my intercession gains him your support
as well. For you have taken the place of the girl's
dead father ; you have succeeded to his share in the

* Or to Syagrius, as C. § Clarissimus.

Letter IV 45'

responsibility for her upbringing ; it is to you that
she looks for a father's love, a patron's guidance, a
guardian's bounden care. And since it is but natural 3
that your admirable government of your household
should attract men of the right stamp even from distant
places, reward the modesty of this suppliant wooer by
a kindly response. In the usual course of events it
would have fallen to you to obtain him the mother's
consent ; as it is, he saves you this trouble, and you
have only to sanction a troth already approved. Your
reputation gives you in effect a parental authority in
regard to this match ; the father himself, if he had
lived, could not have claimed a greater. Farewell.

V

To his friend Petronius

A.D. 461-7

John, my friend, is caught inextricably in the i
labyrinth of a complex business, and is at a loss what to
hope and what abandon until your experienced eye, or
another as good (if such there be), has looked into his
titles to determine their validity. The case is confusing
in that it has more than one side, and he does not
see whether his statement should maintain one line of
action or impugn another. I most earnestly beg you, 2
therefore, to examine his documents and tell him what
his rights are, what he ought to allege or refute, and
what his procedure should be. Let but the stream of
this affair flow from the springs of your advice, and
I have no fear that the other side will manage to reduce
its volume by any unfair diversion. Farewell.

4<J Book II

VI

To his friend Pegasius

A.D. 461-7

1 There is a proverb that delay is often best ; I have
just had proof that it is true. We have had your
friend Menstruanus long enough among us, to find
him worthy of a place among our dearest and most
intimate friends. He is agreeable, and of refined
manners, moderate, sensible, religious, and no spend-
thrift ; his is a personality which confers as much as it
obtains when admitted to the most approved of friend-

2 ships. I tell you this for my own satisfaction, and not
to inform you of what you already know. As a result,
content will now reign in three separate quarters. You
will be pleased at this seal set on your judgement in the
choice and adoption of your friends ; the Arvenians will
be pleased, since to my certain knowledge they liked him
for the very qualities which, I am sure, commended him
to you ; lastly Menstruanus himself will be gratified at
receiving the good opinion of honourable men. Farewell.

VII

To his friend Explicius

A.D. 461-7

I You have given so many proofs of your impartiality
that you have won universal respect, and for that
reason I am always more than eager to send all seekers
after justice to your judgement-seat ; by so doing I ease

Letter VII 47

the disputants from their burden, and myself from all
necessity of argument. These ends I shall attain in
the present case, unless your diffidence should prompt
you to refuse the parties audience; but your very
inaccessibility is the best proof of your impartiality.
For almost every one else intrigues to be chosen as an
arbitrator, expecting to gain something in influence
or advantage. Be indulgent, therefore, to men who 2
press on each other's heels to enjoy the privilege of
pleading before so fair a judge ; your repute is such
that the loser can never be so stupid as to impugn your
verdict, or the winner so over- subtle as to deride it.
Both sides respect the truth ; those against whom the
verdict goes respect you ; those whom it favours show
their gratitude. Therefore I implore your early
decision on the matter in dispute between"^ Alethius and
Paulus. I believe your sound sense and healthy judge-
ment can alone heal the malady of this interminable
quarrel, and that they will be far more effective than
any decrees of decemvirs or of pontiffs. Farewell.

VIII
To his friend Desideratus

A.D. 461-7

I WRITE Oppressed by a great sorrow. Three days i
ago Filimatia died, and all business was suspended out
of respect to her memory. She was an obedient wife,
a kindly mistress, a capable mother, a dutiful daughter,
whether at home or abroad, earning the willing service
of her inferiors, the affection of her equals, and the

48 Book II

consideration of the great. Left an only daughter at
her mother's death, she so bewitched her father by her
charming ways, that though he was still a young man,
he never longed for a male heir. And now her sudden
death pierces two hearts, leaving a husband desolate
and a father childless. The mother of live children
has been snatched away before her time, her very
fertility her worst misfortune ^ ; had she been left,
and the invalid father taken, the little ones would seem

2 less helpless than now. The tributes of affection
which we pay the dead are not vain ; it was not the
sinister train of bearers who buried her ; all present
were dissolved in tears, and the very strangers hung
upon the bier as if they would hold it back. They
imprinted kisses on it, until more like one in slumber
than one dead, she was received by her relatives and
the clergy, to be laid to rest in her long home. When
the rites were done, the bereaved father begged me to
write an elegy for her tombstone ; I did it while my
tears were still almost warm, choosing the hendeca-
syllabic in place of the elegiac measure. If you do not
think the lines too bad, my bookseller shall include
them in the volumes of my selected poems ; if you do,
the heavy verse shall be confined to the heavy stone.

3 Here is my epitaph :

' In this tomb a mourning country's hands have laid
the matron Filimatia, whom with fierce stroke and
swift, fate snatched from spouse, from sire, from ^we
oiphaned children. O pride of thy house, O glory of
thy consort, O wise and pure and seemly, O strict
and tender, and worthy to precede even the aged, by
what art of thy gentle nature didst thou unite the

Letter Fill 4y

qualities which seem at discord with each other ? For
a grave ease and a modesty not too severe for gaiety
were ever the companions of thy Jife. Therefore we
mourn thee taken, thy sixth lustre hardly run, and the
due rites paid in this undue season of thy prime.' ^

Whether you like the verses or not, hasten back to
the city. You owe the bereaved homes of two fellow
townsmen the duty of consolation. Pray God you
so act that the manner of your action may never be
your reproach hereafter. Farewell.

IX

To his friend Donidius ^

A.D. 461-7

To your question why, having got as far as Nimes,
I still leave your hospitality expectant, I reply by
giving the reason for my delayed return. I will even
dilate upon the causes of my dilatoriness, for I know
that what I enjoy is your enjoyment too. The fact is,
I have passed the most delightful time in the most
beautiful country in the company of Tonantius Ferreolus
and ApoUinaris, the most charming hosts in the
world. Their estates march together ; their houses
are not far apart ; and the extent of intervening ground
is just too far for a walk and just too short to make the
ride worth while.^ The hills above the houses are
under vines and olives ; they might be Nysa and
Aracynthus, famed in song.^ The view from one villa
is over a wide flat country, that from the other over

* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 324 f.

646.22 I £

TO Book II

woodland ; yet different though their situations are, the

2 eye derives equal pleasure from both. But enough of
sites ; I have now to unfold the order of my enter-
tainment. Sharp scouts were posted to look out for
our return ; and not only were the roads patrolled by
men from each estate, but even winding short-cuts and
sheep-tracks were under observation, to make it quite
impossible for us to elude the friendly ambush. Into
this of course we fell, no unwilling prisoners ; and our
captors instantly made us swear to dismiss every idea
of continuing our journey until a whole week had

3 elapsed. And so every morning began with a flatter-
ing rivalry between the two hosts, as to which of their
kitchens should first smoke for the refreshment of their
guest ; nor, though I am personally related to one, and
connected through my relatives with the other, could
1 manage by alternation to give them quite equal
measure, since age and the dignity of prefectorian rank
gave Ferreolus a prior right of invitation over and

4 above his other claims. From the first moment we
were hurried from one pleasure to another. Hardly
had we entered the vestibule of either house when we
saw ^two opposed pairs of partners in the ball-game ^
repeating each other's movements as they turned in
wheeling circles ; in another place one heard the rattle
of dice boxes and the shouts of the contending players ;
in yet another, were books in abundance ready to your
hand ; you might have Imagined yourself among the
shelves of some grammarian, or the tiers of the
Athenaeum, or a bookseller's towering cases.^ They
were so arranged that the devotional works were near
t he ladies' seats ; where the master sat were those

Letter IX j-i

ennobled by the great style of Roman eloquence. The
arrangement had this defect, that it separated certain
books by certain authors in manner as near to each other
as in matter they are far apart. Thus Augustine writes
like Varro, and Horace like Prudentius ; but you had
to consult them on different sides of the room.
Turranius Rufinus' interpretation of AdamantiusOrigen^ 5
was eagerly examined by the readers of theology among
us ; according to our several points of view, we had
different reasons to give for the censure of this Father
by certain of the clergy as too trenchant a contro-
versialist and best avoided by the prudent ; but the
translation is so literal and yet renders the spirit of
the work so well, that neither Apuleius' version of
Plato's Phaedoj nor Cicero's of the Ctestphon of
Demosthenes is more admirably adapted to the use
and rule of our Latin tongue. While we were engaged 6
in these discussions as fancy prompted each, appears
an envoy from the cook to warn us that the moment of
bodily refreshment is at hand. And in fact the fifth
hour had just elapsed, proving that the man was
punctual, had properly marked the advance of the
hours upon the water-clock ^. The dinner was short,
but abundant, served in the fashion affected in senatorial
houses where inveterate usage prescribes numerous
courses on very few dishes, though to afford variety,
roast alternated with stew. Amusing and instructive
anecdotes accompanied our potations ; wit went with
the one sort, and learning with the other. To be
brief, we were entertained with decorum, refinement,
and good cheer. After dinner, if we were at Voro- 7
cingus ^ (the name of one estate) we walked over to our

E 2

f2 Book II

quarters and our own belongings. If at Prusianum, as
the other is called, [the young] Tonantius and his
brothers turned out of their beds for us because we
could not be always dragging our gear about : ^ they are
surely the elect among the nobles of our own age. The
siesta over, we took a short ride to sharpen our jaded

8 appetites for supper. Both of our hosts had baths in
their houses, but in neither did they happen to be avail-
able ; so I set my own servants to work in the rare
sober interludes which the convivial bowl, too often
filled, allowed their sodden brains. I made them dig
a pit at their best speed either near a spring or by the
river ; into this a heap of red-hot stones was thrown,
and the glowing cavity then covered over with an arched
roof of wattled hazel. This still left interstices, and to
exclude the light and keep in the steam given off when
water was thrown on the hot stones, we laid coverings

9 of Cilician goats' hair over all.^ In these vapour-baths
we passed whole hours with lively talk and repartee ;
all the time the cloud of hissing steam enveloping us
induced the healthiest perspiration.

When we had perspired enough, we were bathed in
hot water; the treatment removed the feeling of
repletion, but left us languid ; we therefore finished off
with a bracing douche from fountain, well or river.
For the river Gardon runs between the two properties ;
except in time of flood, when the stream is swollen and
clouded with melted snow, it looks red through its tawny
gravels, and flows still and pellucid over its pebbly bed,
lo teeming none the less with the most delicate fish. I
could tell you of suppers fit for a king ; it is not my
sense of shame, but simply want of space which sets

Letter IX f3

a limit to my revelations. You would have a great story
if I turned the page and continued on the other side ;
but I am always ashamed to disfigure the back of a letter
with an inky pen. Besides, I am on the point of leaving
here, and hope, by Christ's grace, that we shall meet very
shortly ; the story of our friends' banquets will be better
told at my own table or yours — provided only that a good
week's interval first elapses to restore me the healthy
appetite I long for. There is nothing like thin living to
give tone to a system disordered by excess. Farewell.

X

To his friend Hesperius

C, A. D. 470

What I most love in you is your love of letters, and i
I strive to enhance the generous devotion by the highest
praises I can give ; your firstfruits please the better for
it, and even my own work begins to rise in my esteem.
For the richest reward of a man's labours is to see
promising young men growing up in that discipline
of letters for which he in his own day smarted under
the cane. The numbers of the indifferent grow at
such a rate that unless your little band can save the
purity of the Latin tongue from the rust of sorry
barbarisms we shall soon have to mourn its abolition
and decease. All the fine flowers of diction will lose
their splendour through the apathy of our people. But 2
of that another time. My present duty is to send
you what you asked, namely, any verses I might have
written since we saw each other last, to compensate

f4 ^ook II

you for my absence. I now satisfy your desire ; young
though you are, your judgement is already so matured
that even we seniors Hke to obey your wishes.

A church has recently been built at Lyons,^ and
carried to a successful completion by the zeal of Bishop
Patiens ; you know his holy, strenuous, and ascetic
life, how by his abounding liberality and hospitable
love towards the poor he erects to an equal height the

3 temple of a spotless reputation. At his request I wrote
a hurried inscription for the end of the church in triple
trochaic, a metre by this time as familiar to you as it
has long been to me. Hexameters by the illustrious
poets Constantius and Secundinus adorn the walls by
the altar ; these mere shame forbids me to copy here
for you. It is with diffidence that 1 let my verse appear
at all ; comparison of their accomplished work with the
poor efforts of my leisure would be too overwhelming.
Just as a too beautiful bridesmaid makes the worst
escort for a bride, and a dark man looks his swarthiest
in white, so does my scrannel pipe sound common and
is drowned by the music of their nobler instruments.
Holding the middle post in space and the last in merit,
my composition stands condemned as a poor thing, no
less for its faulty art than for the presumption which
has set it where it is. Their inscriptions properly
outshine mine, which is but a sketchy and fanciful
production. But excuses are of little use : let the
wretched reed warble the lines demanded of me :

4 ' O thou * who here applaudest the labours of Patiens
our pontiff and father, be it thine to receive of heaven

* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 328 ff., v^^ho uses a corre-
sponding English metre; also by Fertig, ii. 37.

Letter X SS

an answer to a prayer according with thy desire. High
stands the church in splendour, extending neither to
right nor left, but with towering front looking towards
the equinoctial sunrise. Within is shining light, and
the gilding of the coffered ceiling allures the sunbeams
golden as itself. The whole basilica is bright with
diverse marbles, floor vaulting and windows all adorned
with figures of most various colour, and mosaic green
as a blooming mead shows its design of sapphire cubes
winding through the ground of verdant glass, ^ The
entrance is a triple portico proudly set on Aquitanian
columns ; a second portico of Hke design closes the
atrium at the farther side, and the mid- space is flanked
afar by columns numerous as forest stems. On the
one side runs the noisy highway, on the other leaps
the Saone ; here turns the traveller who rides or goes
afoot, here the driver of the creaking carriage ; here
the towers, bowed over the rope, raise their river-
chant to Christ till the banks re-echo Alleluia. So
raise the psalm, O wayfarer and boatman, for here is
the goal of all mankind, hither runs for all the way of
their salvation.'

You see I have done your bidding as if you were the 5
older and I the younger man. But mind not to forget
that I expect repayment with compound interest ; and
to make the payment easy and positively delightful,
there is only one thing to do : read shamelessly ; never
stop longing for your books. The auspicious event,
now so near, I mean the home-coming of your bride,
must not distract you ; keep steadily before your mind
how many wives have held the lamp for studious or
meditative lords — Marcia for Hortensius, Terentia for

f^

Book II

Tulllus, Calpurnia for Pliny, Pudentilla for Apuleius,
6 Rusticana for Symmachus. When you are inclined to
complain that feminine companionship may deaden not
only your eloquence but your poetic talent as well, and
dull the fine edge which long study has set upon your
diction, remember how often Corinna helped her Ovid
to round off a verse, Lesbia her Catullus, Caesennia
her Gaetulicus, Argentaria her Lucan, Cynthia her
Propertius, or Delia her Tibullus. Why, it is as clear
as day that, to the studious, marriage is opportunity,
and only to the idle an excuse. Set to, then ; do not
permit a mob of the unlettered to discourage your zeal
for letters. For it is Nature's law in all the arts that
the rarer the accomplishment, the higher the value.
Farewell.

XI

To his friend I^usticus

A. D. 461-7

1 If only we lived nearer to each other, and the
distance which sunders us were less vast, I should
allow no remissness in correspondence to affect the
duties of our established intimacy. I should not cease,
the foundations of our mutual friendship once laid, to
raise thereon a noble structure by all honourable atten-
tion. The distance of our homes from each other may
hardly affect the union of hearts linked once for all,

2 yet it interferes with the intercourse of minds. The
remoteness of our cities is really responsible for the
rarity of our letters \ but so close is our friendship that
we keep accusing ourselves, though all the time the

Letter XI S7

obstacles are purely natural, and afford no real ground
either for blame or for excuse. I opened my gates in
a good hour, illustrious lord, to your messengers, in
whom I marked the effect of your training and the
influence of their master's unassuming manners. I heard
with pleasure all they had to say, and finally dismissed
them as the event required. Farewell.

XII

To his brother-in-law Agricola

A. D. 461-7

What a fast and well-built boat you have sent, i
roomy enough to hold a couch ; and a present of fish
too ! In addition, a steersman who knows the whole
river well, with sturdy and expert oarsmen who seem
able to shoot up-stream just as fast as down. But you
must hold me excused if I decline your invitation to
join your fishing ; stronger nets than yours detain me
here, nets of anxiety for our invalids, a source of
concern not merely to our own circle but to many
beyond its limits. If the natural feelings of a brother
awaken in you the moment you open this, you too will
give up the expedition and return. The cause of this 2
general solicitude is our Severiana. At first she was
troubled by a shattering intermittent cough ; upon this
an exhaustive fever supervened which has grown worse
during successive nights. She longs to get away into
the country ; when your letter came, we were actually
preparing to leave town for the villa. Whether you
decide to stay where you are, or to come to us, join
your prayers to ours that Nature with her vigorous

5-8 Book II

growth may bring back health to one pining for country air.
Your sister and I have been Hving in suspense between
hope and fear ; we thought that to oppose the invalid's
wish would only make her fret the more. So under
Christ's guidance we are determined to fly the languor
and heat of town with all our household, and incident-
ally escape the doctors also, who disagree across the
bed, and by their ignorance and endless visits con-
scientiously kill off their patients. Only Justus shall
be of our party, but in the quality of friend, not as
physician ; Justus, who, if this were a time for jesting,
I could easily prove a Chiron rather than a Machaon.^
Let us then with all the more diligence entreat and
beseech the Lord that the cure which our efforts fail
to effect may come down to our invalid from above.
Farewell.

XIII

To Serranus^

A. D. 461-7

I The advocate Marcellinus has brought your letter ;
I find him a man of experience ; he is of the sort that
makes friends. The consecrated words of greeting
over, you give all the rest of your space, no trifling
amount, to laudation of Petronius Maximus, your
imperial patron. With more persistence (or shall I call
it amiability ?) than truth and justice, you style him
' the most fortunate ', because, after holding all the
most honourable offices of state, he at last attained
the diadem. Personally, I shall always refuse to call

* Partly translated by Hodgkin, ii, 200-2.

Letter XIII S9

that man fortunate who is poised on the precipi-
tous and slippery peak of office. O the unspeakable 2
miseries of that life, the life of your fortunates ! And
are they who usurp the title, as Sulla did, really to be
so styled for trampling upon all law and justice, and
believing power the only happiness ? Does not their
blindness to their own most harassing servitude alone
prove them more wretched than other men I For as
kings rule their subjects, so desire of domination domi-
nates kings. Were the fate of all princes before and 3
after him left out of the account, this Maximus of
yours would alone provide the maximum of warnings.^
He had scaled with intrepidity the prefectorian, the
patrician, the consular citadels ; with an unsated appe-
tite for office, he took for a second term posts which he
had already held. But when the supreme effi^rt brought
him to the yawning gulf of the imperial dignity, his
head swam beneath the diadem at sight of that
enormous power, and the man who once could not
bear to have a master could not now endure to be one.
Imagine how much was left in all this of the influence, 4
the power, and the stability of the old life ; then think
of this two-months' principate, its beginning, its whirl-
wind course, its end. Is it not plain that his real
happiness was over and done before this epithet of
' fortunate ' was ever given him ? The man who once
was so great a figure, with his conspicuous way of
life, his banquets, his lavish expense, his retinues, his
literary pursuits, his official rank, his estates, his extensive
patronage ; who so jealously watched the flight of time
that the clock ^ must set before his eyes the passage of
every hour ; this man, once made emperor, and prisoned

6.0

Book II

in the palace walls, was rueing his own success before
the first evening fell. And when his mountainous cares
forbade him to mete the hours in his former tranquil
way, he had to make instant renunciation of the old
regular life ; he soon discovered that the business of
empire and a senatorial ease are inconsistent with each

5 other. The future did not deceive his sad forebodings ;
it was no help to him to have traversed all other offices
of the court in the fairest of fair weather ; his rule of
it was from the first tempestuous, with popular tumults,
tumults of soldiery, tumults of allies. And the climax
was unprecedentedly swift and cruel ; Fortune, who had
long cozened him, showed now all her faithlessness and
made a bloody end ; it was the last of her that stung him,
as the tail of the scorpion stings. A prominent, noble man
of high culture, whose talents raised him to quaestor's
rank, a man of great influence among the nobility,
I mean Fulgentius, used to say that whenever the
thrice-loathed burden of a crown set Maximus longing
for his ancient ease, he would often hear him exclaim :
' Happy thou, O Damocles, whose royal duresse did

6 not outlast a single banquet ! * History tells us that
Damocles was a Sicilian of Syracuse, and an acquaint-
ance of the tyrant Dionysius. One day, when he was
extolling to the skies the privileges of his patron's life
without any comprehension of its drawbacks, Dionysius
said to him : ' Would you like to see for yourself, at
this very board, what the blessings and the curses of
royalty are like?' 'I should think I would,' replied
the other. Instantly the dazzled and delighted creature
was stripped of his commoner's garb and made re-
splendent with robes of Tyrian and Tarentine dye ;

Letter XIII 61

they set him on a gold couch with coverings of silk,
a figure glittering with gems and pearls. But just as 7
a Sardanapalian feast was about to begin, and bread
of fine Leontine wheat was handed round ; just as rare
viands were brought in on plate of yet greater rarity ;
just as the Falernian foamed in great gem-like cups and
unguents tempered the ice-cold crystal ; just as the
whole room breathed cinnamon and frankincense and
exotic perfumes floated to every nostril ; just as the
garlands were drying on heads drenched with nard, —
behold a bare sword, swinging from the ceiling right
over his purple-mantled shoulders, as if every instant
it must fall and pierce his throat. The menace of that
heavy blade on that horsehair thread curbed his greed
and made him reflect on Tantalus ; the awful thought
oppressed him that all he swallowed might be rendered
through gaping wounds. He wept, he prayed, he 8
sighed in every key ; and when at last he was let go,
he was off like a flash, flying the wealth and the delights
of kings as fast as most men follow after them.
A horror of high estate brought him back with longing
to the mean, nicely cautioned never again to think or
call the mortal happy who lives ringed round with army
and guards, or broods heavy over his spoils ^ while the
steel presses no less heavily upon him than he himself
upon his gold. If such a state be the goal of happiness
I know not my lord brother ; but that those who attain
it are the most miserable of men is proved beyond
dispute. Farewell,

62 Book II

XIV
To his friend Maurusius

A. D. 461-7

1 I HEAR that your vines have responded to your hard
work and our general hopes with a more abundant
harvest than a threatening and lean year promised. I
expect that you will consequently stay longer at the
village of Vialoscum ; ^ was not the place formerly
called Martialis, from the time when it formed
Caesar's winter quarters ? Of course you have a rich
vineyard there, and a large farm besides worthy of its great
proprietor, both of which will keep you and yours busy
harvesting the various crops and always in fresh quarters.

2 When your granaries and stores are full, you may
decide to pass the snowy months of Janus and Numa
in rural ease ^ by your smoking hearth until swallow
and stork reappear ; if so, we too shall cut short
engagements hardly promising enough to keep us in
town, and while you enjoy your country life we shall
enjoy your society. You know me well enough to be
aware that even the sight of a fine estate with ample
revenues could never give me half the satisfaction or the
keen pleasure which I derive from intercourse with
a neighbour of my own years and so worthy of my
esteem. Farewell.

BOOK III

To his friend Avitus

C» A. D. 472

From our earliest boyhood and through our youth i
you and I have been Jinked by many bonds of mutual
affection. To begin with, our mothers were very near
relations. Then we were born about the same time
and were contemporaries at school ; we were together
initiated into the study of the arts and employed our
leisure in the same amusements ; we were promoted by
the same imperial favour ; we were colleagues in the
service of the state. Lastly, in personal likings and
antipathies our judgement has always agreed — perhaps
a stronger and more efficient factor this, in widening
the scope of friendship than all the rest together.
The outward resemblance of our careers drew us 2
together by the bond of similar occupation ; inwardly
we were less alike, for yours was by far the higher and
more excellent nature. And now I gladly recognize
that yours is the hand to crown the edifice of our long
mutual regard by this most timely endowment of the
church in our poor town of Clermont, whose unworthy
bishop I am. In this estate of Cutiacum, lying almost
at its gates, you have indeed made an important addition
to its property ; to the members of our sacred profession

<J4 Book III

whom your generosity has thus enriched, the con-
venience of access counts for almost as much as the

3 revenue which the place yields. Under your late
sister's will, you were only a co-heir, but the example
of your piety has already moved your surviving sister
to emulate your good works. And heaven has already
repaid you as you deserve for your own deed and its
effect upon her; God has chosen you out to be exalted by
unusual good fortune in inheritances. He did not long
delay to reward your devotion a hundredfold, and it is
our sure belief that these earthly gifts will be followed
by heavenly gifts hereafter. I may tell you, if you are
really unaware of it, that the Nicetian succession is

4 heaven's repayment for Cutiacum surrendered. We
pray you in the future to extend to the city itself the
interest you have already shown its church ; hence-
forward it should be more than ever the object of your
protection since you have inherited a property there.
You may conclude from the attitude of the Goths how
valuable the place might become if you would only
make it frequent visits ; they are always depreciating
their own Septimania,^ and even talking of returning it
to the empire, all because they covet this land of yours,
which they would like to annex even if everything upon

5 it were laid waste. But by God's grace and your
mediation a more tranquil outlook lies before us. For
though the Goths have broken their old bounds, though
their valour and the impetus of a vague greed have
pushed their frontiers to the Rhone and Loire, yet the
esteem in which you are held and the weight your
opinion carries, should so influence both sides that we
shall learn to refuse when we ought, and they to refrain

Letter I 6y

from further demands when met with a firm denial.
Farewell.

II

To his friend Constantius

A. D. 474

The people of Clermont salute you, a great guest i
in their lowly homes, ^ coming without ambitious retinue
and simply environed by their love. Merciful God,
what joy they felt amid their tribulation when you set
your venerated foot within their half-ruined walls. How
dense was the crowd of both sexes, and of every rank
and age about you ; how impartially you gave a cheering
word to one and all ; how kind the small boys found
you, how considerate the young men, how helpful in
advice the older among us. What tears you shed
over our buildings ruined by the flames and our homes
half burned to the ground, as if you had been the father
of us all. What grief you showed at the sight of
fields buried under the bones of the unburied dead.
And afterwards what a power of encouragement you
were, with what spirit you urged the people to repair
their loss. Over and above this, you found the city no 2
less desolated by internal dissension than by the bar-
barian onslaught ; but you conciliated all ; you renewed
their harmony ; you gave the country back her sons.
The walls are re-manned, the people restored to them
at unity, all thanks to you ; your counsel it was which
brought them back into one mind as into one city.
They all regard you as their father and themselves as
your children ; they perceive with an infallible eye

546.22 I F

6d Book III

3 wherein lies your greatest title to praise. For day
by day it is borne in upon their minds what a magni-
ficent thing this is that you have done at so advanced
an age and in so delicate and infirm a state of health.
Despite your noble birth and the veneration with which
you are regarded, you broke down every barrier by
sheer force of love ; all the difficulties of the journey
were nothing to you, long ways and short days, thick
snows and thin fare, wide wastes and narrow lodging,^
roads full of holes, now sodden with rain, now ribbed
with frost, highways covered with rough stones, rivers
slippery with ice ; you had steep hills to climb, valleys
choked with continual landslides to pass ; through
every discomfort you came triumphant with the love
of a whole people for your reward because your own
comfort was the last thing of which you thought.

4 And now we beseech the Lord that he may hear our
prayer and set far the term of your life ; that the friend-
ship of all good men may be yours to have and hold ;
that our affection which you seem to be leaving behind
may ever be about your path ; and finally, that the fair
structure of our concord which you began to restore,
may be regarded from foundation to summit as your
peculiar work. Farewell.

Ill

To his brother-in-law Ecdicius

A. D. 474

I There never was a time when my people of Clermont
needed you so much as now ; their affection for you is

Letter III 67

a ruling passion for more than one reason. First,
because a man's native soil may rightly claim the chief
place in his affection ; secondly, because you were not
only your countrymen's joy at birth, but the desire of
their hearts while yet unborn. Perhaps of no other
man in this age can the same be said ; but the proof of
the statement is that as your mother's time advanced,
the citizens with one accord fell to checking every day
as it went by, I will not dwell on those common things 2
which yet so deeply stir a man's heart, as that here was
the grass on which as an infant you crawled, or that
here were the first fields you trod, the first rivers you
swam, the first woods through which you broke your
way in the chase. I will not remind you that here
you first played ball and cast the dice, here you first
knew sport with hawk and hound, with horse and
bow. I will forget that your schooldays brought us
a veritable confluence of learners and the learned from
all quarters, and that if our nobles were imbued with
the love of eloquence and poetry, if they resolved to
forsake the barbarous Celtic dialect, it was to your
personality that they owed all. Nothing so kindled 3
their universal regard for you as this, that you first
made Romans of them and never allowed them to
relapse again. ^ And how should the vision of you
ever fade from any patriot's memory as we saw you in
your glory upon that famous day, when a crowd of
both sexes and every rank and age lined our half-ruined
walls to watch you cross the space between us and the
enemy ? At midday, and right across the middle of the
plain, you brought your little company of eighteen ^ safe
through some thousands of the Goths, a feat which

F 2

<J8 Book III

4 posterity will surely deem incredible. At the sight
of you, nay, at the very rumour of your name, those
seasoned troops were smitten with stupefaction ; their
captains were so amazed that they never stopped to
note how great their own numbers were and yours how
small. They drew off their whole force to the brow
of a steep hill ; they had been besiegers before, but
when you appeared they dared not even deploy for
action. You cut down some of their bravest, whom
gallantry alone had led to defend the rear. You never
lost a man in that sharp engagement, and found yourself
sole master of an absolutely exposed plain with no more
soldiers to back you than you often have guests at your

5 own table. Imagination may better conceive than words
describe the procession that streamed out to you as you
made your leisurely way towards the city, the greetings,
the shouts of applause, the tears of heartfelt joy. One
saw you receiving in the press a veritable ovation on
this glad return ; the courts of your spacious house
were crammed with people. Some kissed away the
dust of battle from your person, some took from the
horses the bridles slimed with foam and blood, some
inverted and ranged the sweat- drenched saddles ; others
undid the flexible cheek-pieces of the helmet you
longed to remove, others set about unlacing your
greaves. One saw folk counting the notches in swords
blunted by much slaughter, or measuring with trembling
fingers the holes made in cuirasses by cut or thrust.

6 Crowds danced with joy and hung upon your comrades ;
but naturally the full brunt of popular delight was
borne by you. You were among unarmed men at last ;
but not all your arms would have availed to extricate

Letter III 6^

you from them. There you stood, with a fine grace
suffering the silHest congratulations ; half torn to pieces
by people madly rushing to salute you, but so loyally
responsive to this popular devotion that those who took
the greatest liberties seemed surest of your most generous
acknov^ledgements. And finally I shall say nothing of 7
the service you performed in raising what was practically
a public force from your private resources, and with
little help from our magnates. I shall not tell of the
chastisement you inflicted on the barbaric raiders, and
the curb imposed upon an audacity which had begun to
exceed all bounds ; or of those surprise attacks which
annihilated whole squadrons with the loss of only two
or three men on your side. Such disasters did you
inflict upon the enemy by these unexpected onsets, that
they resorted to a most unworthy device to conceal
their heavy losses. They decapitated all whom they
could not bury in the short night-hours, and let the head-
less lie, forgetting in their desire to avoid the identifica-
tion of their dead, that a trunk would betray their ruin
just as well as a whole body. When, with morning 8
light, they saw their miserable artifice revealed in all its
savagery, they turned at last to open obsequies ; but
their precipitation disguised the ruse no better than the
ruse itself had concealed the slaughter. They did not
even raise a temporary mound of earth over the remains ;
the dead were neither washed, shrouded, nor interred ;
but the imperfect rites they received befitted the manner
of their death. Bodies were brought in from every-
where, piled on dripping wains ; and since you never
paused a moment in following up the rout, they had to
be taken into houses which were then hurriedly set

70 Book III

alight, till the fragments of blazing roofs, falling In
9 upon them, formed their funeral pyres. But I run on
beyond my proper limits ; my aim in writing was not
to reconstruct the whole story of your achievements,
but to remind you of a few among them, to convince
you how eagerly your friends here long to see you
again ; there is only one remedy, at once quick and
efficacious, for such fevered expectancy as theirs, and
that is your prompt return. If, then, the entreaties of
our people can persuade you, sound the retreat and
start homeward at once. The intimacy of kings is
dangerous ; ^ court it no more ; the most distinguished
of mankind have well compared it to a flame, which
illuminates things at a short distance but consumes
them if they come within its range. Farewell.

IV

To his friend Magnus Felix

A.D. 473

1 The bearer of this is Gozolas, a Jew, and a client of
your excellency, a man I should like if I could only
overcome my contempt for his sect. I write in great
anxiety. Our town lives in terror of a sea of tribes
which find in it an obstacle to their expansion and surge
in arms all round it. We are exposed as a pitiful prey
at the mercy of rival peoples, suspected by the Bur-
gundians, almost in contact with the Goths ; we have
to face at once the fury of our assailants and the envy

2 of our defenders.^ But of this more later. Only let
me know that all goes well with you, and I shall be

Letter IV 71

content. For though we may be punished in the sight
of all men for some obscure offence, we are still generous
enough of heart to desire for others all prosperity. If
a man cannot wish others well in evil times he is no
better than a captive ; the enemy that takes him is his
own unworthy nature. Farewell.

V

To his friend Hypatius

A.D. 473

The excellent Donidius admires and respects your i
character ; and had he no other aim than his own family
advantage, he might safely confide in your acknowledged
reputation, and feel no need of another's advocacy.
But he thinks so well of me, that he would have me
ask for him what he could certainly obtain alone. Con-
sequently, you will acquire a crowning title of distinc-
tion in making both of us your debtors, though one
alone will reap the material benefit. He seeks to 2
acquire the other moiety of the estate of Eborolacum,^
abandoned even before the barbarian came, but now in
possession of a patrician family ; his rights are clear,
but the added weight of your support would be very
welcome. Respect for the memory of his ancestors,
and no mere greed, inclines him to this purchase, for
down to the recent death of his stepfather the whole
property belonged to his family. He is of an economical
turn of mind, but not the man to covet his neighbour's
goods ; the loss of a former possession in itself
troubles him little ; the point of honour decides him ;
it is not avarice which prompts his action, but the

7 2 Book III

3 shame of inactivity. Deign therefore to consider what
you owe to your own credit, to his honourable desire,
to my friendly intercession ; help to secure for him this
chance of rounding off the estate. These paternal
acres are not just casually known to him ; he crawled
upon them as an infant hardly weaned. He will make
little profit by their recovery ; but he feels that it would
have been too contemptible not to make the effort. What-
ever favour you may be able to accord to one whom
I regard as a brother in years, a son by profession,
a fellow citizen by origin, and a friend by loyalty,
I shall be as much beholden as if the matter turned to
my own particular advantage. Farewell.

VI

To his friend Eutropius

A. D. 470 (?)

1 If kind memories still remain to you of our old
comradeship and of an intimacy ever and again renewed,
you will readily understand that our soaring wishes will
follow your ascent to each new height of office. We
rejoice with you over your insignia, believing that thereby
your house and our friendship are alike promoted. In
proof whereof I remind you of my letter of exhorta-
tions ^, which I think had no small share in this result.

2 But what trouble I had in persuading you that a man
might be a philosopher and a prefect at the same time !
You were deep in the tenets of Plotinus, and the Platonic
school had seduced you into a quietism unsuited to your
age, I maintained that only a man without family

Letter VI 73

obligations was free to profess a philosophy of that
nature. Most people ascribed your scorn for public
service to simple indolence ; malignant tongues added
that our nobles fail to rise in the state less from
disinclination than incapacity. Now, therefore, as a 3
Christian should, I begin by rendering unstinted thanks
to Our Lord who has raised you to an official rank
befitting your exalted birth ; our hopes are also raised,
so that we may fairly look for even better things to
come. It is a comm.on saying with provincials that
a good year really depends less on ample crops than on
a good administration ; ^ it must be yours, honoured lord,
to crown all our expectations by such measures as the
present occasion demands. Our nobles do not forget
the stock from which you spring ; they are sure that
so long as the family of Sabinus controls their destinies,
they have nothing to fear from the house of Sabinianus.^
Farewell.

VII

To his friend [_Magnus] Felix

A. D. 474

You are very sparing in your correspondence. Each i
of us obeys his own temperament : I gossip, you hold
your peace. And since in other obligations of friend-
ship you are beyond reproach, I am driven to the
conclusion that this indefatigable love of ease must
itself be a kind of virtue. But, seriously, will no thought
of old acquaintance ever lift you from the rut of this
interminable silence ? Or are you really unaware that
it is nothing short of insult to refuse a talkative man an

74 ^ook III

answer ? You bury yourself in the depths of a Hbrary
or office and give no sign of Hfe, yet all the while
expect the attention of a line now and then from me ;
and this though you know quite well that mine is rather

2 a ready than a gifted pen. The apprehensions among
which we live ought alone to furnish you with subject
enough for letters ; write then, and do not fail to entrust
a good bulky missive to some one coming our way, to
relieve your friends' anxieties and especially to let them
know whether the new quaestor Licinianus ^ is likely to
open a door of safety out of these mutual alarms. He is
described as one who has more than fulfilled the expecta-
tions formed of him, proving greater on acquaintance than
his great repute ; in fine, a man conspicuously endowed

3 with the best gifts of nature and good fortune. A model
of judgement, adorned with equal discretion and per-
sonal charm, this trusty envoy is worthy of the power
which he represents. He is quite free from affectation
or pretence ; there is nothing feigned in the gravity
which lends weight to his words. He does not follow
the example of most envoys who seek a reputation as
safe men, and are over-timid in diplomacy ; on the other
hand, he is not to be numbered among those ambas-
sadors to barbarian courts, who sell their master's
secrets, and work for their own advantage rather than

4 that of their mission. Such is the character of the
man as favourable rumour carries it to us. But let us
know at once if the description squares with fact. Then
perhaps we may snatch some breathing-space from our
unceasing vigils ; at present neither a snowy day nor
a cloudy moonless night will tempt our people from
their watch upon the walls. Even were the barbarian

Letter VII JS

to draw off to winter quarters, their fears are too deep
to be eradicated ; at the most, they can only be deferred.
Encourage us with hope of better times ; you may regard
our country as remote, but the cause we stand for is as
near to your own heart as to ours. Farewell.

VIII

To his friend Eucherius

(No indication of date)

I HAVE the highest respect for the men of antiquity, i
but mere priority in time shall never lead me to place
the virtues and the merits of our contemporaries upon
a lower plane of excellence. It may be true that the
Roman state has sunk to such extreme misery that it
has ceased to reward its loyal sons ; but I will not
therefore admit that a Brutus or a Torquatus is never
born into our age. You ask the purport of this de-
claration? You yourself shall point my moral, most
capable of men ; the state owes you the rewards which
history applauds when granted to the great men of the
past. Men ignorant of the facts had best refrain from 2
carelessly conceived opinions ; they had best abandon
the obstinate habit of looking up to the men of old time
and down on those of our own day. It is abundantly
clear that the recognition which the state owes you is
now long overdue. Yet what is there to wonder at in
this, when a race of uncivilized allies directs the Roman
power, yes, and bids fair to bring it crashing to the
ground ? We have men of rank and valour who excel
anything we ourselves could hope, or our enemies believe.

76 Book III

Aye, and they do the old deeds ; but the reward is not
forthcoming. Farewell.

IX

To his friend l^othamus

C, A, D. 472

1 I WILL write once more in my usual strain, mingling
compliment with grievance. Not that I at all desire to
follow up the first words of greeting with disagreeable
subjects, but things seem to be always happening which
a man of my order and in my position can neither men-
tion without unpleasantness, nor pass over without neglect
of duty. Yet I do my best to remember the burden-
some and delicate sense of honour which makes you so

2 ready to blush for others' faults. The bearer of this is
an obscure and humble person, so harmless, insignificant,
and helpless that he seems to invite his own discomfi-
ture ; his grievance is that the Bretons are secretly
enticing his slaves away. Whether his indictment is
a true one, I cannot say ; but if you can only confront
the parties and decide the matter on its merits, I think
the unfortunate man may be able to make good his
charge, if indeed a stranger from the country unarmed,
abject and impecunious to boot, has ever a chance of
a fair or kindly hearing against adversaries with all the
advantages he lacks, arms, astuteness, turbulences, and
the aggressive spirit of men backed by numerous
friends. Farewell.

Letter X 77

X

To his friend Tetradius

A. D. 461-7

It is a most laudable trait in the character of younger i
men when they resort to more experienced heads in
questions of perplexity ; as the honourable Theodorus
now does. He is a man of good family, but quite as
much ennobled by his admirable modesty as by his
high descent. My letter introduces him to the source
of humane letters, I mean the pure fount of your erudi-
tion, to which he is setting out with the most com-
mendable ardour, hoping to learn much himself and
perhaps bring away as much to impart to others. Should 2
even an experience like yours fail to give him all
the help he needs against such factious and powerful
opponents, at all events your skill and advice will stand
him in good stead. Unless you wish me to conclude
that you regard our joint petition as troublesome and
importunate, justify his hopes of you and this testimonial
of mine by a favourable reply, so that the cause and
wavering fortunes of this suppliant may be fortified
by your salutary counsel. Farewell.

XI

To his friend Simphcius

(No indication of date)

A KIND of fatality attends my hopes, and you still i
grudge us a sight of you. But, most excellent of

7 8 Book III

men, we need not therefore regard you as one whose
memorable actions must necessarily escape our notice.
For all our people, the notables included, hail you with
one accord as the model of all that a father should be,
even in the select and critical society in which you
2 move. The manner in which you have brought up
your daughter, and chosen a husband for her, confirms
the opinion of our friends ; and the accomplishment of
your desires in this union must have raised in your
mind an agreeable uncertainty whether you have most
excelled in the choice of the one or the education of the
other. On that score, venerable parents, you may
wholly set your minds at rest ; you surpass every one
because your children surpass even you. Please, there-
fore, excuse my earlier letter ; it was negligent of me
not to have sent it before I did, but the dispatch of
it, I fear, betrayed the chatterer. My officiousness will
lose Its blemish of loquacity if you condone the im-
pertinence of this greeting by sending me an answer.
Farewell.

XII

To his nephew Secundus

C, A. D, 467

J I HAVE dreadful news. Yesterday profane hands all
but desecrated the grave where my grandsire and your
great-grandsire lies,^ but God's intervening arm stayed
the accomplishment of an impious act. The cemetery
had for years been overcrowded with burned and un-
burned burials,^ and interment there had long ceased.
But snows and constant rains had caused the mounds

Letter XII 79

to settle ; the raised earth had been dispersed, and the
ground had resumed its former even surface. This
explained how it was that some undertaker's men pre-
sumed to profane the spot with their grave-digging tools
just as if it were unoccupied by human bodies. Must 2
I relate what happened ? They had already unturfed
the ground, so that the soil showed black, and were
piling the fresh sods upon the old grave. By a mere
chance I happened to be passing on my way to Clermont,
and saw this public outrage from the top of a neighbour-
ing hill. I gave my horse his head, and dashed at full
speed over the intervening ground, flat or steep was all
the same to me ; I grudged even those brief moments,
and sending a shout before me, stopped the infamy even
before I myself reached the scene. The villains, caught
in the act, were still hesitating whether to make off or
hold their ground, when I was upon them. It was
wrong, no doubt, but I could not allow them an
instant's impunity ; on the very grave of our beloved
ancestor I gave them such a trouncing ^ as should in
future secure the dead from molestation, and safeguard
the pious care of the survivors. I did not reserve the 3
case for the judgement of our good bishop,^ considering
it best for the common advantage not to do so ; I
knew too well the strength of my own case, and his
gentle nature ; he was certain to judge me with too
much severity, and these fellows with too great a lenience.
To satisfy his right to be informed I did explain the
whole affair after I had resumed my journey, and this
upright and holy man gave me far more than the mere
absolution I expected ; he extolled my righteous indig-
nation, declaring that in his opinion men who perpetrated

8o Book III

so audacious a deed deserved the death our forefathers

4 would have inflicted. The incident should help to
prevent any similar mischance in future, and I beg you
to see that the disturbed earth is at once raised to
a mound again, and to have a smooth flat slab placed
upon it at my expense. I have deposited a sum of
money with the venerable Gaudentius to cover the cost of
the stone and of the mason's labour. The verses which
I enclose were composed the night of the occurrence ;
of course they are not finished to perfection ; I was too

5 busy with preparations for the road. Such as they are,
please have them carved on the tomb with the smallest
possible delay, and be specially careful that the stone-
mason makes no errors either by negligence or with
intention ; for whatever the cause, the captious reader
will put it all down to me. If you carry out this pious
obligation I shall thank you no less heartily than if you
were not certain to receive part of the praise and credit.
P'or were I, your uncle, no longer with you, the whole
responsibility of this duty would have devolved on you
as the next descendant after myself.

' A grandson not all unworthy of such a grandsire,
I dedicate to him, though all too late, this epitaph, my
father and my paternal uncles being dead, that you,
O passer by, may never tread on unmounded earth,
unwitting of the reverence due to him who is buried in
this grave. Here lies Apollinaris, who, having ruled
all Gaul, was gathered to the bosom of a mourning
country. He was learned in the law and helpful to his
kind above all other men. He laboured for the land,
and for the State, and in the cause of eloquence ;
and, example perilous to others, he dared be free

Letter XII 8i

under the rule of tyrants. But this stands as his
chief title to fame, that of all his race he was the first
to purify his brow with the sign of the cross and
his limbs with baptismal water ; he first abandoned the
old sacrilegious rites. This is the highest glory, this
the transcendent virtue, if a man outstrip in hope those
whom he equals in honours, and is placed by his desert
above his fathers though on earth his titles were the
same as theirs/

I know well that this epitaph is unworthy of our 6
accomplished ancestor ; yet methinks the souls of the
lettered do not refuse a poetic tribute. And neither of
us need regard as too belated the pious duty which we
have now fulfilled in our quality as heirs in the third and
fourth degree. How many revolving years rolled by
before Alexander celebrated funeral rites for Achilles'
shade, or Julius Caesar for the shade of that Hector
whom he treated as an ancestor of his own ? Farewell.

XIII

To [his son] Apolltnaris

r. A. D. 469

The love of purity which leads you to shun the r
company of the immodest has my whole approval ;
I rejoice at it and respect it, especially when the men
you shun are those whose aptitude for scenting and
retailing scandals leaves nothing privileged or sacred,
wretches who think themselves enormously facetious
when they violate the public sense of shame by shameless
language. Hear now from my lips that the standard-

646.22 I Q

8 2 Book III

bearer of the vile troop is the very Gnatho of our
2 country.^ Imagine an arch-stringer of tales, arch-
fabricator of false charges, arch-retailer of insinuations.
A fellow whose talk is at once without end and without
point ; a buffoon without charm in gaiety ; a bully who
dares not stand his ground. Inquisitive without insight,
and three-times more the boor for his brazen affectation
of fine manners. A creature of the present hour, with
ever a carping word ready for the past and a sneer for the
future. When he is after some advantage, no beggar so
importunate as he; when refused, none so bitter in depre-
ciation. Grant his request and he grumbles, using every
artifice to get better terms ; he moans and groans when
called on to refund a debt, and if he pays, you never
hear the end of it. But when any one wants a loan of
him he lies about his means and pretends he has not the
wherewithal ; if he does lend, he makes capital out of
the loan, and bruits the secret abroad ; if debtors delay
repayment he resorts to calumny ; when they have

3 absolved the debt he tries to deny receipt. Abstinence
is his abomination, he loves the table ; but a man who
lives well wins no praise from him unless he treats well
too. Personally, he is avarice itself ; the best of bread
is not for his digestion unless it is also the bread of
others. He only eats at home if he can pilfer his
viands, and send them off amid a storm of buffets. He
cannot indeed be wholly denied the virtue of frugality ;
he fasts when he cannot get himself invited. Yet with
the light perversity of the parasite, he will often excuse
himself when asked ; on the other hand, if he sees

4 that men avoid him, he will fish for invitations. If
left out he grows abusive ; if admitted, unbearably

Letter XIII 83

elate : no blow descends on him unexpected. If dinner
is served late, he falls like a bandit upon the dishes ; if
appetite is stilled too soon, he falls to lamentation.
Thirst unquenched makes him quarrelsome ; drunken-
ness makes him sick. If he banters others, he grows
scurrilous ; if others banter him, ungovernable ; take
him for all in all, he is like the filth in sewers, the
fouler the more you stir it. His life brings pleasure to
few, love to none, contemptuous mockery to all. He
is one to burst bladders or break canes upon,^ one
whose thirst for drink is only excelled by his thirst for
scandal ; exhaling loathsomeness, frothing wine, uttering
venom, he makes one doubt for what to hate him most,
his unsavouriness, his drunken habits, or his villany.
' But ', you may say, ' perhaps a fair complexion lends 5
a colour to a vile nature ; perhaps his charm of person
redeems ineptitude of mind ; the man may have
elegance or exquisite taste ; he may create a good im-
pression on those who meet him.' In point of fact, his
person is fouler and more unsightly than a corpse rolled
half-burnt from the pyre when the brands have settled —
such a thing as a very undertaker's slave ^ could not
bring himself to put back. He hardly sees out of his ■
eyes, which, like the Stygian lake, roll waters down
through darkness. His ears are elephantine ; an ulcered 6
skin surrounds each aperture with indurated waste,
either helix is bossed with suppurating tumours. His
nose is broad at the nostril and narrow at the bridge,
strait for his own olflictory ends, but for the spectator
a cavernous vision of horror. He obtrudes a face with
leaden lips and a bestial rictus, with purulent gums and
brown teeth ; a foul mephitic odour breathes from his

84 Book III

decayed and hollow teeth, enhanced by eructations from
the feasts of yesterday and the bilge of his excesses at

7 the board. A forehead too he flaunts hideous with
creases and distension of the brows. He grows a beard
which age vainly whitens, since Sylla's malady ^ keeps
it black. His whole face is as pale as if it were ever
dolorous with infesting shades. I spare you the
hulking residue, gout- ridden, fat and flabby. I spare
you his weal-furrowed skull, covered with almost as
many scars as hairs. I spare you the description of
a nape so short that when his head is thrown back

8 it seems to merge into his shoulder-blades. The sunken
carriage, the lost grace and vigour of his arms, the
gouty hands bound cestus-like with greasy poultices ; all
these I spare you, so too the acrid hircine armpits that
entrench his sides, and pollute the air for every nostril
near him with a reek three times more pestilent than
that from Ampsanctus' cave.^ And breasts collapsed
with adiposity horrible on a man's body even in mere
protuberance, but now hanging like a mother's. And
the pendulous folds of the abdomen about genitals thrice
shameful in their debility, a foul creased covering worse

9 than what it hides. Why should I tell of his back and
spine ? True, the ribs do sweep round from the verte-
bral joints and cover the chest, but the whole branching
structure of bones is drowned under a billowing main of
belly. I pass over the fat reins and buttocks which
make even his paunch look insignificant in comparison.
I pass the bent and withered thigh, the swollen knees,
the slender hams, the horny shanks, the weak ankles,
the small toes and enormous feet. As I have drawn
him, he is horrible enough in his deformity, a monster

Letter XIII Sj-

from whom his infinite noisomeness drains half the
blood and life, who cannot sit a litter or walk a yard,
however much they prop him. But his tongue is more
detestable still than his other members. He keeps it busy lo
in the service of the vilest prurience ; but it is most
dangerous of all to patrons with anything to hide. For
those in luck he belauds, but those who are unfortunate
he betrays ; let a tempting moment but urge to disclosure
of a friend's secret, and instantly this Spartacus will break
all bars and open every seal. He will mine with the
unseen tunnels of his treachery the houses which the
rams of open war have failed to breach. This is the
fashion in which our Daedalus crowns the edifice of his
friendships, sticking as close as Theseus in prosperity ;
but when adversity comes, more elusive than any Pro-
teus. The more you avoid even a first introduction to 1 1
such company the better you will please me ; especially
to those so shameless that they talk like degraded
players at the booths, and know neither bar nor
bridle. For when a man exults in leaving all seem-
liness and decency behind, and fouls a loose tongue
with the dirt of all lawless licence, be sure his heart is
no less filthy than his language. You may find an evil
liver with a serious tongue ; the foul tongue and virtuous
life are very rarely allied. Farewell.

XIV

To his friend Placidus

AFTER A. D. 477

Though your loved Grenoble^ holds you far from i
me, I learn from a sure channel — your former hosts —

U Book If I

that you are kind enough to prefer my trifles in prose
or verse to all the other volumes on your shelves. It
goes without saying that it gave me pleasure to hear how
my writings occupy your leisure ; but I understand well
enough that it is really affection for the author and not
the quality of his work which procures you this delight.
My debt is all the greater ; friendship wins me the
honour which you could not honestly give the composi-
2 tion. For the rest, I have not yet considered what
definitive reply I shall make to the detractors of my work.
The self-appointed critic absorbs a sound or unsound
style with equal appetite ; he cares no more that the
world should exalt his favourite than that it should
despise the object of his mockery. And so we see the
fine construction, the comeliness and grandeur of our
Latin tongue exposed to contemptuous criticism of idle
quidnuncs ; minds careless and so flippant as this want
books only to carp at ; their use for literature is a mere
abuse. Farewell.

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